How to play soccer
by RIP Amaze Liar
Summary: Every year there is a competition between freshmen from different colleges, to make sure they get the school’s spirit. Alex is a freshman, Marissa is the sophomore in charge of training the girls soccer team. MALEX! Don't like it, don't read it.
1. First day

Every year there is a competition between freshmen from different colleges, to make sure they get the school's spirit. Alex is a freshman, Marissa is the sophomore in charged of training the girls soccer team.

Don't own anything.

Thoughts are in italic.

Flashbacks are in bold.

A.N: Well this is my new story. It is about finding love and having the strenth to admit it. I will try to update both of my stories on a regular basis.

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Chapter 1

First day, it's really scary. You don't know what to expect. Everything is new, everything is different. The anticipation is the worst part. It was Alex's first day at Harvard University.

She walked in slowly through campus, trying to memorize everything, at the same time taking her time, not to let her emotions take over. She was an only child, and as she had had problems during birth, so her mother had been overprotective of her to the point that this was the first time she was ever alone.

It took everything in her not to run back home, scared of everything she was seeing and feeling. Back to California, back to her mom.

Carefully, she walked in on the building the secretary had told her to, Alex couldn't even be sure it was the right one, right now they all seemed the same. The blonde just got in the same one that everyone else with LOST written on their faces were entering.

Finding the right numbered class, she entered to find a huge auditorium filling up with what she imagined were freshmen. She decided to get a sit in the back, to be able to see everyone's reactions. Didn't take long, the seats around her were filled, people always preferred the back rows.

At 9 AM exactly, it started. First a woman talking about what was college, and how was being in college. Then, a man talked about Harvard and what was expected from its students. Last, came another women telling the rules, and giving orientation to the students to get their student I.D. s.

After she was done, the students started to get up and leave; glad they would have the afternoon free to get their things sorted, just to be barred at the door by an Asian looking boy that told them to get back to their seats.

Reluctantly, everyone complied. The Asian looking boy, now surrounded by at least 30 other people went to the front of the class, and waited for the professors to leave, and others like him to enter, filling the front, and the back.

"Hello, freshmen. My name is Mark, and I'm president of Harvard's athletics team. Well, you must be wondering, what am I doing here, right? Well, I and my friends here are here to welcome you in to Harvard. We are here to help you in this new time of life, and bla, bla, bla. I'm sure you just listened to all this annoying crap. With that in mind let's skip to the important stuff. Firstly, we are here for you, if you need us we will be more than glad to help. Secondly, these whom you see here are part of the athletics team, everyone tried their best to make it, but some had some other things to do, you'll meet them in time."

He took a moment to look at everyone in the face before continuing.

"We expect you to meet everyone, because in the next four months, you will be training all sports, no exception. In four mouths, there is a national competition among colleges, a freshmen competition, and we expect you to win it. In the next 4 mouths, there will be practice during lunch, and after class, at least until 10 PM for girls, and 12 AM for guys. All of you have to be in all practices in the beginning, and in about 2 months or so, we will choose who will stay in which team. Some will stay in more than one, some will stay in none, but those who won't be chosen I expect to be the ones that will cheer the most, for the ones that will give their blood for this college."

One hand shot up in the middle of the class.

"What's your name freshman?"

"Arthur."

"Well, Arthur, what do you have to say that is so important that you had to interrupt me?"

"I-I'm s-s-so-sorry, b-b-but I c-c-ca-can't play anything, y-y-you do-do-don't have t-t-to waste y-y-yo-your time with me. I s-su-su-suck."

"Well, Arthur, that's not important, the first 2 mouths is to teach all of you how to play all sports, then the ones that learn better will be chosen. Therefore, all of you must come to practice, unless, there is some sort of medical condition, then you can tell me all about it later. Or do you think you are better than the others? That they will lose their lunch, their nights, their time with their family and friends and you will do whatever you want?"

"No, I j-j-just don't t-th-think I'm any go-o-o-d. I w-won't b-b-be chosen f-f-for any-ny-nything"

"That's not the spirit, you will train, and you will do your best, and you will hope to God you are chosen. You have no idea what is to play in a Freshtion, guys you don't know, that are here for 4, 5,6 years, guys that already graduated screaming your name. There is no time to give you much technique; it is your strain that win games. You will run until you can't move anymore, and then you will run some more. In mine, I was carried out of the gym; it was the best felling I will ever know. Now, we are here to give this to you. All of you freshmen, it is your competition, your victories. I'm not sure if you understand it, but we will lose our time, training you, actually, we won't lose time, we will gain it. It is not a burden to train you, it is a gift, because we will get new friends, as will you, and we will be helping this new friends accomplish something they will never be able to forget. You will learn to defend this college like I do, to defend it with your blood, anyway you can. Look at this guy here, his name is Seth, say hi to Seth" Mark said showing a geek looking boy.

"Hi, Seth." Everyone responded

"Do you think Seth here is athletic? Do you think he is the captain of the water polo team?"

"No" Arthur told Mark.

"He isn't, he isn't the kinda guy who would do something like this. He played chess and table tennis last year. He won both, he gave everything he had to win it. That's what we want from you, we don't need you to win it, it would be great if you did, but what's important to us is that you show us your stain, your will power, in practice and in Freshtion. Now, are there any other questions?"

The class stayed quiet.

"Good, now let's continue, as I said you will have practice everyday, weekdays and weekends, and these are the guys that will train you." He said pointing to the group that was behind him. "These are sophomores, they were a great class, their Freshtion was perfect, they made me proud, proud to say I trained them, proud to say they belonged to my college, proud to say they were my friends, my brothers. Because you will see, this is a family, and like older brothers, we will teach you everything you need to know to survive. As I was saying, theses sophomores will train you, like when I was a sophomore I trained my freshmen, they will be in pairs, two for girls and two for boys in each sport, obviously there will be others that will wanna help. Now, Linda, the girl by the door, will distribute the practice schedules, along with our phone numbers, in case you need any help to get to practice, or any help at all. I would ask that you all stay in your seats, until she is finished, then you will all put the schedules inside your bags, and calmly walk outside, that we have something else to show you. I highly advise you to leave your bags and anything that can break or that you won't wanna lose, inside. And, before I forget, today you are free from practice, but tomorrow bring gym clothes."

The class obediently did what they were told, still dazed with that much information. Outside, they were greeted with eggs, flour, ice cold water and beer on their heads.

And as the afternoon progressed, the freshmen were completely drenched. Alex, that was a complete mess, was dumbfounded when out of nowhere the most beautiful being she had ever met, came over to her and, smiling, broke a egg on the blonde's head and left, leaving Alex to stare. And what surprised her even more, was that the being that left her without a breath was a girl.

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So, that's it, so who do you think misterius girl is? 3 guesses. Well more action next chapter, Alex and Marissa meet.

Please review.


	2. Names

Every year there is a competition between freshmen from different colleges, to make sure they get the school's spirit. Alex is a freshman, Marissa is the sophomore in charged of training the girls soccer team.

Don't own anything.

Thoughts are in italic.

Flashbacks are in bold.

A.N.: Thanks to Fikus, Nat, Rinoa-Hime, CaliGirl21, n, Vero for the reviews.

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Chapter 2 

"There is no way I'm gonna lose my time in some weird practice" Stacy made sure everyone in the class heard her. "I have way better things to do."

It was last period before lunch, before their first practice, and the girl had her mind set on the idea of convincing as many people to ditch practice as possible.

"And how do you plan on doing that?" That was Anna, a beautiful blonde girl, with her hair a little lower than her ear, dark eyes and a clean face, a face that showed her sweetness.

"Well, you see, I'll just walk out of this door and leave, not show up at whatever yacht club we have to."

"I don't think it will be that easy" Replied the blonde girl with short hair.

"What are they gonna do? Force me?" The other girl said, as she walked out of the door, only to be stopped by hallway filled with students of all years, a group led by Mark.

"Hi, freshmen, missed me?" Said the Japanese looking guy. "Please, as you exit, form a straight line, so we can put you in your cars"

By that, he meant that the freshmen were divided in groups of 6, and put into a car driven by one of them, so that they could be taken to the right gymnasium.

There they separated each person to the sport they would be training, the place where they made a presence checklist of everybody training, telling them to sign it so that their presence was confirmed.

Alex followed the other 5 girls that would ride with her not even caring where she was going, she knew they were following a sophomore, but she also wondered why she had to train so much.

As they reached the car, one girl sat in the front and the other 5 squeezed in the back, 2 sitting on the other 3 laps. Alex was one of the bottoms.

"So girls, what are your names?"

The sophomore's voice finally brought the blonde attention to her, making her look up. That was the girl Alex had seen the day before, the girl that haunted the blonde's night. Alex was so shocked that she lost her ability to speak, or even breathe.

"I'm Melody"

"Tricia"

"Amanda"

"Anna"

"Kat"

There was a long silence, they were waiting for Alex to respond.

"Hey, you back there, I can't see you, but you can tell me your name, I'll probably forget, there are too many new names, but I am working on remembering them all."

"Hum…"

"Ok, lets start this way, I'm Marissa Cooper, sophomore, taking you to your practice, now you are?"

"I'm, hum, I'm..." _Mentally challenged._ "Alex"

All Marissa could think of was that this girl had the most beautiful voice she had ever heard.

Sadly, the brunette was not able to put a face for that name, for as soon as the car stopped Alex left without looking back. She was so ashamed that she almost preferred not seeing Marissa that day. Almost.

Alex trained volleyball that practice.

After it, whoever brought you, took you back, witch meant Alex would have to face the brunette once more, something she looked forward to and dreaded at the same time.

"1, 2,3,4,5. Who is missing?" Marissa said.

"Amanda" Kat responded.

"Nope, I'm right here." Replied the other girl behind Kat.

"Alex. I think she is still in there changing" Anna answered Marissa's question.

"So, you, girls, go ahead and squeeze in the back of the car, and I'll get her, OK?" She didn't wait for an answer and left for the dressing rooms.

"Alex? Alex! AAAAALEEEXXXX?"

"INSIDE!!!!"

Without thinking Marissa entered only to get the view that she wasn't expecting but enjoyed anyway when she saw Alex finishing putting her shirt back on.

Alex had taken her time putting on her clothes, she wanted to be the last one to arrive, at least, this way the girls would have less time to make fun of what she had done.

And that's how Marissa found her, putting her clothes back on. Which resulted on the brunette's jaw drooping, as she inspected the beautiful blonde girl she had never seen before.

"Marissa? Marissa?" The brunette unquestionably had her mind somewhere else, making Alex wonder what had made Marissa's eyes become glazed.

"Oh, yes, sorry. Hum, are you ready? We gotta go, I have class in half an hour."

"Sorry let me just get my bag, OK?"

"OK"

"You are a little quiet aren't you?" Marissa asked as they walked to the car.

"What do you mean?"

"Quiet as in shy, you didn't say a word in the car"

"I'm not sure, I guess sometimes it's a little too much for me, new school, new friends, adapting everything, training, being away from home."

"I may be. Transition period, you will get used to it. But, where are you from?"

"California"

"Long away from home"

"Yeah"

"Well, if you need any help talk to me, ok?"

"Thanks"

"I mean it, here take my number, call me if something comes up"

"Thanks"

"No problem, you will see that whoever comes to practice will meet friends for life."

"What do you mean, whoever comes to practice? I don't think we have a choice."

"That's for your own good, trust me, there is no one in this college that doesn't wanna be in your place now, but nobody knew how good Freshtion was, before it. We just don't want you all to miss it. Mark is a little overdramatic about the hole thing, but he is kinda right."

"Therefore we get no choice"

"Actually, you will see, there will be the ones that will find a way to ditch practice, don't be one of them. Last year, my year, there was this guy that jumped out of the window to escape, besides a broken leg, he just got no friends. You won't meet people during class, or in the library, you will meet everyone here. And everyone wants to meet freshmen, become your friends, next year you will be old news, there will be new freshmen, no one will try to talk to you, you are the one that will welcome them."

"So, does this mean you played last year?"

"Yeap, I won 5 medals. Someday I'll show them to you."

"You won?"

"Yeah, actually last year we were champions 1 day before Freshtion was over, it was so good. That day we woke up knowing we had to win one final to be champions-"

"One final?"

"Yeah, each step of each sport add points, we were in all semifinals and we had to win only one to be champions, so we had just lost a game to Yale, and they invaded the court to celebrate their victory, but then we got a call telling us that tennis had won, so we invaded the court to celebrate our championship. They had no idea what was going on."

They reached the car, and they joined the other girls on the freshmen boys.

As they reached campus, Marissa stopped the car in front of the main entrance.

"You girls go ahead, I have to park this thing." As they were leaving, Marissa called. "Alex"

"Yes?"

"I hope you come to practice tomorrow."

"I will"

"Good, then I'll see you there." _Why did she say tomorrow, not tonight? We have practice tonight. What happens tomorrow?_ The blonde thought.

As Marissa left she had a thing in her mind. _Alex. That's definitely a name that I will be able to remember._

Later at night, after class was done for the day, the blonde was told to swim, then she trained the triple jump and later handball. But Alex did it all with a smile on her face, for today she had talked with the girl of her dreams, a girl named Marissa Cooper.

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That's it for today, hope you liked it. 

Please review.


	3. Teaching

Every year there is a competition between freshmen from different colleges, to make sure they get the school's spirit. Alex is a freshman, Marissa is the sophomore in charged of training the girls soccer team.

Don't own anything.

Thoughts are in italic.

Flashbacks are in bold.

AN: Thanks to h3if3ngXx, wowwheeitsnicki, Dar19, carolinda, kris007, bigblusky, ALEXISSA2, and comedowntome. for reviewing.

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Chapter 3 

The next day, Alex was exhausted, barely being able to open her eyes as the alarm went off, and having every intention of destroying it as it disrupted her dreams of the beautiful Marissa Cooper.

Alex lived on her own a couple of blocks from campus, her mom had forbidden her of living in the dorms, saying it was dangerous to live with people she didn't know and that were eager to get their hands on anything with alcohol.

Therefore, her mom had bought a place for here, to live alone. Money was definably not a problem to the Kellys.

Dragging her feet, the blonde got up, and decided to start her day. As much as she was tired, Alex couldn't wait for practice, it wouldn't come fast enough. Marissa had told her to come.

Last night, it hadn't been Alex's dream girl that had driven her to practice, but the blonde had seen her there, eating and drinking with her friends at a snack bar next to the gymnasium, which meant that Alex would get to see Marissa even though it probably wouldn't be the brunette who would give Alex a ride.

Indeed, after the most boring class she could ever have, Alex was taken to the soccer field by a girl named Summer, whom trained the girls' volleyball team, and had taken a liking to Alex by what she had presented the day before.

On the outside, Summer was one of those rich kids that couldn't care less about others, but as Alex had found out the girl had a big heart and even got into campaigns against hurting nature, or so it was said among the freshmen. Besides, the girl was funny when she decided to talk non-stop, especially if you got her talking about her boyfriend, Seth.

The practices were held in pretty much the same place, some fields were a block or two away, but they were mostly next to each other. Which meant Marissa would be around, somewhere. Only she wasn't.

Alex looked everywhere, as she passed, hoping to get a glimpse of what she considered to be the most beautiful girl on the planet, no such luck. Marissa wasn't in any of the snack bars around.

"Hey, Alex, aren't you coming?" Summer asked her.

"In a minute" The blonde responded

"Why? What are you waiting for?"

"Nothing"

"Then come on, you don't wanna be late."

"Why not? The only reason I came to practice isn't here." Alex said after she knew Summer was far away, not able hear her.

Dragging her feet, Alex made her away to the locker room to change slowly into training clothes, of course she was late for practice.

"10 laps around the field. Now."

"Marissa?" _What was the brunette doing in the soccer practice?_

"Yeah, glad you came, but you are late, so 10 laps around the field so next time you remember to get here on time."

"You are the coach?!?!"

"Yeap. Now, come on, get moving."

Without discussion the blonde did as she was told, soon she was joined by other late arrivals.

"Hey, everyone gather around here please." Marissa yelled, and everyone did as they were told. "Some of you already know me, but for those who don't, my name is Marissa Cooper and I'll teach you how to play soccer. I'm a very nice girl and I'll gladly help you in anything but there will be some rules here, one, and that's some of you already learned, I don't tolerate lateness so be here on time, if you need to leave 10 minutes early from class its fine, I do it to be here, you can too. There will always be someone there to bring you here there, we are always outside your class early. Two, I can enter 25 girls, not necessarily the best ones, I will enter those who come every practice."

Marissa took a breath before continuing.

"If you have a problem and is not able to come, then tell me, if it's a good reason of course I'll understand. But I won't enter anyone that decides to come to practice whenever it suits her, no matter how good she plays. If you don't want to come, please sign the list and leave, just remember to come back on time to get your ride back, I promise I won't tell anyone. On this team, only the ones that really want to play will play. Understood?" The girls just nodded "Good, now, I'll tell the other rules as we go along, lets get started that we've already lost too much time."

Then they begun passing the ball in pairs. Alex knew how to do that, she used to play a little with her friends, in spite of the fact that she had never truly practiced the game. It had only been for good fun. Some had trouble doing it, but as it seemed there was one girl that didn't miss one: Kat. This girl did everything she wanted with the ball, and she knew it.

For that reason, Kat decided to show off, not caring that the she wasn't the only one practicing.

Marissa noticed that, deciding not to say anything at the moment, she just focused on those who wanted to learn something.

Watching the pairs she stopped to watch Alex and Anna passing the ball at each other. They seemed to be doing OK, but it wasn't the girls' skills that kept Marissa watching. The brunette felt entranced by Alex, she couldn't take her eyes away. So, there she stood, staring at the blonde play, smile, and laugh with her pair.

That is until someone missed the pass and ended up shooting the ball at Marissa, hitting her in the head.

"Sorry!" The red-haired girl said as she ran to get the ball.

"No problem" The brunette responded still holding her head.

Alex, noticing the brunette was in pain, came over to help.

"Hey, are you ok?" The blonde asked, putting her hand where the ball had hit, caressing it.

_Better now._ Marissa thought, but decided not to say that out loud. "Yeah, don't worry, I've played worst."

"Ok, then I'll just get back there" Alex said, pointing at Anna, who was waiting for her. Then, suddenly remembering to that her hand was still on Marissa's face, Alex let it go, immediatelly felling the loss of the brunette's skin.

"Ok, you do that." Marissa said, having the same reaction.

Alex did, but Marissa didn't move an inch, still watching Alex play, only this time the blonde knew it, making her nervous which meant the blonde couldn't pass one ball right.

Marissa, deciding it was her job to help, came over Alex.

"Keep your feet firm." The brunette said.

"Ok" the blonde answered, but Marissa's presence did nothing to alleviate the blonde's nervousness, so no right passes.

"Here, like this" Marissa said as she took the ball and passed it to Anna.

Again, Alex tried, again she failed.

This time Marissa decided on a new approach. First she told Alex to hold the ball with her feet, then the brunette came behind Alex, pushing her body against the blonde's, making it so Alex's back was glued with Marissa's front. Then the brunette put her hands around the other girl's waist, holding her.

"Now, that's what we are gonna do" The brunette said. "You will kick the ball, but my foot will be right behind yours, correcting it, ok?"

The blonde nodded, but she couldn't think about anything other than the fact that she could feel Marissa's breath on her ear.

Doing it three times, Marissa came to 2 conclusions. One, it wasn't helping as Alex wasn't concentrating. Two, she was beginning to feel a strange felling holding the blonde, feeling the brunette preferred not to dwell on.

So, Marissa let go saying "Now you keep practicing, I'll help the others." Barely looking back, face as she had seen a ghost.

The rest of practice didn't have much incidents, Alex even managed to play right, that is, when Marissa wasn't in close proximity, which the brunette seemed to prefer, as she kept her distance from Alex as much as possible.

Leaving the field, the girls were met by Jodie, the sophomore in charged of training the girls' basketball team, that had been watching the practice. Saying 'hi' to all girls that passed, she took the time to say something else to Alex.

"I believe you enjoyed practice" The Latino girls said, as she gave Alex a smile that said 'I know something you don't'. But the blonde didn't get a chance to answer, as the girls behind her had gotten tired of waiting and just pushed the blonde.

Marissa that had been the last one to leave practice, responded Jodie's 'hi' with one of her own, just out of politeness, which had been the reason Jodie had said anything to Marissa in the first place.

Then the brunette went outside where she found Summer waiting for the girls to change.

"You know, I know Jodie is a great soccer player and an even better basketball one, but that girl's just plain annoying, with her superior attitude and all" Marissa said.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Summer replied as she followed Marissa to the brunette's car.

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What can i say? I really love Jodie, but she wont have much importance until later in the story, so hold on, we still have a long way to go.

Please review.


	4. Quiet

Every year there is a competition between freshmen from different colleges, to make sure they get the school's spirit. Alex is a freshman, Marissa is the sophomore in charged of training the girls soccer team.

Don't own anything.

Thoughts are in italic.

Flashbacks are in bold.

AN: thanks comedowntome., Kissila, lexy, Jenna, stripedheart, The Angel's Devil, Dar19, ., Darkredeyes and bigblusky for the awesome reviews. comedowntome., this chapter is specially for you who took the time to review ir twice, thank you.

* * *

Chapter 4 

Almost 2 months had gone by in a blink of an eye. There was no time to think, no time to breath, just no time. Alex's day was filled with school and practice, and when she got home the only thing that crossed her mind was food and bed.

She had done it all, from skateboarding, through wrestling, to triple jump, table tennis, chess, water polo, archery and many others. Each day she was taken to some place different, without any idea what was she supposed to do, so she just stop trying to know. Alex let them take the lead and just enjoyed the ride.

It was a good thing that these places were so close to each other that the blonde got a glimpse of Marissa almost every single day. Sometimes Alex got to talk to the brunette a little and that's what kept her going, even if at those times Marissa seemed cold and distant.

Other problem was that she would start having assays and tests next week, only she had not studied anything yet, she hadn't had time to.

That what was on her mind as she entered the classroom, spotting a seat next to what had come to be her best friend, Anna Stern. Entering seconds before the professor started his lessons had become a habit to her, that is, when she got there before he started his lesson. It wasn't unusual for Alex to enter after the class had already begun.

Most teachers didn't mind all that much, quite a few had graduated in Harvard, therefore had the same will to win the Frestion so they turned a blind eye to the late arrivals, but there were some that found inadmissible that the students were late for class because they were practicing something or because they were too tired and didn't wake up on time.

Those professors made everyone's life almost impossible because they made sure to look the door the moment they entered and only the inside that could sign the presence list, of course there was only a few students in class, some that had managed to escape practice and those that had finished practice a little early and had managed to get there on time.

As a way out of this problem those that finished practice early took the list and signed every single name on it. The professors went crazy because there were no more than 15 students in class and the whole list was signed. Everyone had each others' signature. That had been a tip from the sophomores.

Back at Alex, she was barely managing to stay awake, there was no way the blonde had listened anything the professor said. Therefore she missed his leaving and the entrance of the athletics' team.

It was weird that they entered the class, it had only happened on the first day, mostly they waited outside, urging freshmen to walk faster, so they had a little more practice. But this day they entered. In the middle, there was Mark, with a face that showed that he was no happy at all.

He was the first to talk.

"Hi. I guess most of you don't know why we are here today. It must be really important seeing as you are missing practice because we are here right? Well, it is. This morning our _beloved_" he stressed the last word to show how ironic he was "dean called us all" he said as he showed the athletics' team "in his office and showed us a very interesting letter."

He took a moment to look at everyone. At this Alex was paying very close attention. Behind Mark, the blonde saw Karen, the girl had tears in her eyes. Karen was a sweet girl, funny, always making jokes and making everyone fell included. Something was definitely not right.

"In this letter" Mark continued "that contained 11 pages, was written by one of you, maybe more, and delivered anonymously to the dean. It said that we mistreated you. It said we were violent and unreasonable with you. It said we molested and, by force, took advantage of you. I am not aware of any of this. This is not something we approve. If something like this actually happened, you should have come to me. I would have been the first one to find whoever did it and break his head in half. We are you family now. Do you think that the dean will take a second look at you in a few months from now? He won't, he will have forgotten anything everything about you in a few months. So, I ask now, and only now, did it actually happen? Tell me so I can make sure that whoever did it will take the right punishment. Tell me without fear, I'm not gonna say anything to you"

There he stayed, quietly, waiting for someone to say something. Facing each and everyone.

"That's what I thought. Is it anger that we made you practice, or is it something more? Just trying to get us out of the way, hum? Don't tell me it was an act of impulse, that you didn't think before you acted, because the letter was filled with laws and penalties, treating to take this to court. Well, I don't know what to say. I had everything planned, games, parties. Everything. I'm not sure I'll do it, not with the dean pressuring us. He talked about expelling us. I guess you are going to be the only class in this university that has never had a Frestion. I'm sorry but I'm not gonna risk my neck over something you obviously don't want."

"NO!" Screamed a girl from the back "I wanna play." As she got up, standing in front of her seat. "What if we wrote another letter, saying the first one was lying? Would that help?"

"Yes, but that's something that has to come from you, at least most of you. Don't tell me anything, otherwise they will say we forced you to write it." The Asian boy responded.

"I will help." Said a boy from the other side of the room.

"Yeah, me too"

"Count me in"

One by one, the class got up, offering to help find a way for them to continue what was before a horrendous task.

"That's great, but from now on you will have to sign a paper allowing yourselves to be trained. I'm sorry, but whoever doesn't sign, can't come to practice. I will write it, hand it to you tomorrow, we won't train now. This afternoon's practice is also canceled. And as for those who won't join us in practice tomorrow, seeing as we can not make you go anymore, I hope you have lots of fun alone. For those who will join us, we will offer you a ride like always. That being said, lets get some lunch, that I haven't got one in 2 months."

* * *

"Did you know about this?" Alex said, talking to her friends, Anna, Zach Stevens, Lindsay Gardner, Kevin Volchok, Taylor Townsend, Theresa Diaz and Johnny Harper as they got lunch. 

"We heard some rumors this morning, didn't think they were true though, guess I was wrong." Theresa responded.

"You would have heard them too, if you managed to get here before the professor started speaking." Anna remarked.

"My alarm didn't go off this morning. Actually it did, I just didn't hear it, woke up half an hour late, had to run 4 blocks to get here." Alex explained.

"Alex, you need to get some rest, you are pushing yourself too hard, you don't have to be the best one in every single sport." Lindsay told her "This way you are gonna end up having a heart attack or something"

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine" _They don't understand. The harder I try, the more teams I will enter, more times a week I'll see Marissa somewhere. I can't just not be my best; otherwise, I wouldn't forgive myself for not seeing her every singe day._

Ironically, the only sport she wasn't that good was soccer, not because she didn't know how to play, but because she got so nervous with Marissa watching that she ended up missing the ball. But Marissa knew the blonde girl got game, because whenever she watched the girl without the other knowing, and that was quite a lot, Alex played really great.

"Hello, freshy." Summer said, as she dragged Marissa with her.

"Hey, Summer." The group greeted them, as they got closer. "Hello, Marissa."

"Hi guys" The brunette responded, smiling, but she didn't make a very good job of hiding the fact that this was the last place on earth she wanted to be, well, except for Alex, who was too busy paying attention on how Marissa's lips moved as she greeted them to think Marissa didnt want to be there.

"Mind if we join you?" Summer asked, already knowing the answer.

"No, not at all. Here, let me get some chairs for both of you." Johnny answered.

"Thanks." They both said as they got their menus and started picking, seeing as everyone else's food had already arrived.

"So, tell me, are you gonna continue coming to practice?" At their nods, Summer continued "Good. It's good to know, I really like you. Besides, I have no idea what would I have done if I lost my best player" She said looking at Alex.

"Thanks, but I'm not so sure you are talking to the right girl" the blonde said blushing

"No, really, you are the best." Summer said, and waited for Marissa to repeat what she told Summer earlier, but nothing came so Summer improvised. "And Marissa here tells me you are a really good soccer player too."

"Hum, thanks, I guess." The blonde didn't know if she should feel happy Marissa had given her a compliment or sad that the brunette hadn't given it herself.

And they continued talking about each one in the table, talking about how they played. Marissa was unusually quiet, stealing glances at Alex when she thought nobody was looking. Only she hadn't seen a pair of eyes that watched the interaction with great interest, from a distance.

* * *

Well, i'm sorry that i haven't updated in a while, but i'm really busy, so i'm not gonna be able to update both my stories at once. I chose this one because it was the one that had more reviews. So, here it is. Hope you liked it. 

Please review.


	5. Disappointment and surprises

Every year there is a competition between freshmen from different colleges, to make sure they get the school's spirit. Alex is a freshman, Marissa is the sophomore in charged of training the girls soccer team.

Don't own anything.

Thoughts are in italic.

Flashbacks are in bold.

AN: Thanks to Bound Dragon, MandaMania, Dar19, comedowntome., drumstiix, krisana22, murph the smurf, Kissila for the reviews. They are great, guys/girls.

* * *

Chapter 5 

Days later, practice had gone back to normal, only now you had to authorize to be taken to practice. A written authorization every day. The number of people who went diminished a little, but not much.

This day, it was soccer practice and it had Alex excided ever since she woke up, even though she had gotten almost no sleep the night before. Of course she hadn't been paying attention to class whatsoever, thankfully the soccer practice was during lunch or she would have her mind on the stars the entire day.

Getting to the field, she was one of the first ones there, wanting to spend as much time with Marissa as possible, the blonde started to look for the girl of her dreams, but said girl was nowhere to be found.

'_Weird, she__ is always here before anyone else.'_ The blonde thought.

And soon the field filled up, but no sign of Marissa.

"Girls! Hey, girls! Gather around here please." Karen said, the same girl that cried the day Mark told everyone about the letter. "I know you all expected to see Marissa here, unfortunately she had some problems she had to take care of now, and she asked me to fill in for her today. I couched the girls soccer team last year, but I haven't been in any of your practices this year so I asked Jodie, here, " she looked at he girl she was talking about, who was right next to her. "to help me today, I'm sure you all know her, as she couches the basketball team this year. She has been watching your soccer practice and has a better idea of how each one of you play. So, let's begin, we are already late."

For a moment Alex couldn't move, she had gotten all worked up today to see Marissa, only to find out the brunette wasn't coming today.

And that just plain irked her.

That day the blonde kicked the ball harder, ran faster, and played much better than she had ever since the begging of practices.

* * *

In the locker room, as she got dressed, Anna, the girl who had become her best friend came up to her. 

"Hey, Alex."

"Anna, hi." The blonde responded.

"So, what's up?"

"Nothing, really. Same old."

"Then why the dark face?"

"What dark face?"

Anna just looked at Alex, with a face that said 'you know what I'm talking about'. But instead of voicing her opinion, she tried a different approach.

"I know we don't know each other for very long, but I do consider you one of my best friends and if you need to talk about anything at all, you know where you can find me."

"Thanks, but there is nothing to tell."

"Suit yourself" Anna said as she got back to changing her clothes.

Alex never told anyone about her feelings for Marissa, not even Anna. She had never voiced them out loud, never written about them. Nothing to allow someone to find out about her secret.

The blonde had 3 main reasons to do it that way. First, she was a shy, quiet person that had in her nature to keep quiet about her own feelings. Second, she had never felt that way and had no idea if the other girl returned her feelings, and Alex thought Marissa didn't. Third, Marissa was a girl and Alex wasn't too sure on how people would react if they knew how the blonde felt.

* * *

"Hey! It's not like that and you know it! You just like to make a fuss out of everything so that the little princess is in the center of the world!" 

"It's not that! You make me come here, saying that it's really important that we talk, so I cut class, come here, sit waiting on your front door for 2 hours for you to decide to show up, and that's all you wanted? A quickie?"

"No! I wanted to spend time with you," '_Yeah right'_ he thought "but seeing as you have better things to do you can go."

"I don't have better things to do but I have responsibilities, I had to couch the soccer team today."

"We haven't seen each other in what feels like forever"

"And whose fault is that?"

"Look I'm very busy, alright. I have to work, I'm not some careless teenager with nothing better to do than annoy freshmen over some stupid tournament"

"You didn't think it was so stupid last year"

"As I said, I'm not some careless teenager anymore, Marissa. I graduated. And if you want to still be with me you are going to learn how to be a little more mature from now on."

"I still wanna be with you, Ryan."

"Good, now please, no more fit attacks like this" he said as he hugged her.

"OK. I'm sorry." Was her only response.

"It's fine" Ryan said as he pushed his hand under her blouse.

* * *

Alex had always been a good student. Responsible, hard working student. Her worst grade had been a B in high school, and that's because she had gotten really sick the day before the test. 

'_2,25 in a scale from 0 to 10. How did I get 2,25 !?!'I_

That was her fist paper the professor had graded and that was, by far, the worst grade Alex had eve gotten. And she had a sinking suspicious that the others weren't much better.

The blonde hadn't been paying much attention to anything that wasn't Marissa related ever since she had met the other girl. And for what? A few rushed conversations that Alex herself initiated and the brunette couldn't get away fast enough, a few glimpses that everyone else got without that much effort.

'_I'm pathetic!' _The blonde thought. _'What am I doing?'_

* * *

"Alex? Alex!" 

"Hey, Summer."

"Hi, do you need a ride for practice?" Class had ended that day and it was time to get to the gymnasiums.

"No, I don't think I'm going. Thanks, though."

"Well, I can't exactly force you to go, but I at least try to convince you otherwise. Why aren't you going?"

"I don't know, I guess I'm tired of all this."

"Do you mean you got your first bad grade today, right? I heard that Professor Robbins released them."

"It is part of it"

"Well, you know, before I came here, I only got good grades too. But in here it's a different story. Everyone gets bad grades in college, no way around it. Ask those people who don't practice if their grades are so much better than yours. Trust me they are not. But you will be able to get them back up, after this is over I will find an army of sophomores to teach you everything they we remember from last year." Summer said that in her characteristic not-breathing-way "But that's only part of it, what is the rest?"

"I don't know, I guess I lost my reason to play."

"Make you a deal, come today and we will find you a new one."

"I'm not sure you will succeed in that."

"Come today and we will see."

"OK"

This time, Summer made sure that there was only herself and Alex on the car. She wanted to make sure she would keep an eye on the blonde without worrying about anyone else.

* * *

As they got to their destination, Alex forced herself not to look for Marissa, she didn't want to see her, didn't want to know if the brunette was there or not. 

That day she trained tennis, then table tennis and until that time she was certain she would never set foot on that place again. Last practice was basketball, and Jodie screamed in her ear every time the blonde made a wrong pass, took a shot without much strength. That was getting on her nerves, and she felt the anger from lunch come back.

She found a way to let the anger out, running, shooting, playing. And by the game's end she felt renewed. Tired, exhausted, but better.

As Alex left, she found Summer waiting for her, ready to take her to Harvard. Behind the blonde, Jodie stood, smiling.

In the car, driving back, Summer decided to start a conversation.

"I thought of a bunch of reasons for you to play"

"No need."

"Wait, don't give up yet. First listen to what I have to say."

"No, there is no need. I found a reason to play."

"You what? That's great. May I ask which is it?"

"You may ask, I'm not gonna answer."

"Rude, are we? But I guess I can live with that as long as you come back."

"I will."

"Ok. Hey, where do you live? There is only you today, so I guess I can take you home."

"Oh, no need, I don't live in the dorms."

"Where do you live then?"

"An apartment, close to campus."

"Then I guess I can take you there too."

"Really, it's fine."

"Don't worry about it, my boyfriend, Seth, lives in an apartment close to campus too and I always take him home."

"Okay then. Where is he from?"

"California, Orange County. He lives here with his brother. They share the apartment. Maybe you know him, have you ever met Marissa's boyfriend?"

"She has a boyfriend?"

"I guess no." Summer said responding her own question. "Yeah, she has a boyfriend. Ryan, Seth's brother. He is a little older than us, graduated last year. When I and Seth stared dating last year, Ryan and Marissa met, she was already my best friend, and they started going out too. It's really great, you know, when we go out, the four of us together."

Summer continued babbling, without realizing she was crushing Alex's heart with every word she spoke. The blonde trying not to cry, just opened her mouth to give the other girl directions.

As they got to the building, Alex wanted to run to bed and cry, but before she could open the car's door Summer stopped her.

"You know, look how funny, that's where the boys live." And walked out with Alex "I guess I will pay him a visit."

Numbly, Alex just followed. For the blonde's sanity, they didn't live on the same floor. Ryan and Seth lived on the 8th, while she lived on the 6th.

Much better.

* * *

Just to let you guys know, it's not a Adventure, Horror, Mystery or Suspense story. It's not that I don't like it, I just don't know how to write it. About the misterious person, all I can say is that he/she has already showed in the story with his/hers real name. Now you can take your pick. Let's see who finds out.

Also, I know that there isnt much Marissa/Alex time in this chapter or in the last one and probably there wont be in the next one, but these chapters are necessary. Building up for the other one. That one will have lots Malex time. I will let you imagine what's going to happen.

Please review.


	6. Sweet dreams and great victories

spuEvery year there is a competition between freshmen from different colleges, to make sure they get the school's spirit. Alex is a freshman, Marissa is the sophomore in charged of training the girls soccer team.

Don't own anything.

Thoughts are in italic.

Flashbacks are in bold.

AN: Thanks to Krisana22, Bound Dragon, comedowntome., Dar19 and silverscreen crush for the amazing reviews.

* * *

Chapter 6 

Two months had gone by in a blink of an eye. Two months that she sat foot in Harvard. Two month she had met Marissa. Two months she secretly admired the brunette from afar.

She vowed not to let Marissa control her life, but the brunette did it without even meaning to. It was almost impossible; the blonde would wonder what Marissa would do or where she would go. Alex would always catch herself wondering where the other girl was, if and if she would run into her at any time. And that just got Alex even more furious.

See, now she had one more place to hope for the other girl to show up. Which was annoying in itself, she thought she had left that part of her behind that night. Alex had dealt with her feelings, she didn't want to feel like that anymore.

That day the brunette hadn't shown up for practice, that day Alex found out that she could let everything she was feeling out during any game. As she played, the blonde didn't have to hold anything in, didn't have to hide her own feelings, about a brunette beauty, those she didn't want to have.

Especially now that she knew that Marissa had a long time boyfriend. Not any boyfriend, according to Summer, Ryan was one of the most popular person on campus when he studied, apparently still was. Enough to get his geek little brother popular too.

And to top it off she wanted to see Marissa at the elevator, or at the entrance, but at the same time she loathed the idea, because that would mean that the brunette would be either arriving or leaving his place. And Alex didn't dare to imagine what the other girl would be doing there.

So, she came back to her first conclusion. She had to stop thinking about Marissa. If only Alex could accomplish that.

Two months. Today they would find out in which team they were chosen. And for an irritating reason, she desperately wanted to be chosen for the soccer team.

* * *

Alex was little overwhelmed when she received her schedule. She wouldn't get much rest until Frestion. Thankfully there was no practice on Sundays. 

MONDAY

Lunch – Basketball

Afternoon 1 – Swimming

Afternoon 2 – Soccer

Afternoon 3 – Handball

TUESDAY

Lunch – Volleyball

Afternoon 1 – Baseball

Afternoon 2 – Football

Afternoon 3 – Swimming

WEDNESDAY

Lunch – Handball

Afternoon 1 – Tennis

Afternoon 2 – Baseball

Afternoon 3 – Basketball

Thursday

Lunch – Soccer

Afternoon 1 – Volleyball

Afternoon 2 – Tennis

Afternoon 3 – Swimming

Friday

Lunch – Football

Afternoon 1 – Handball

Afternoon 2 – Volleyball

Afternoon 3 – Baseball

Saturday

Morning 1 – Football

Morning 2 – Basketball

Afternoon 1 – Tennis

Afternoon 2 – Soccer

* * *

Maybe because her busy schedule, maybe because she didn't think much about it, maybe because time flew by faster, Frestion arrived much sooner than Alex anticipated. Before she had time to think it was already the Friday afternoon, and she was waiting with others freshmen the bus to take them there. 

They were going to Vermont, that's where these year's game would be. Approximately 165 miles, almost 3 hours. And the buses were late, all 3 of them. It was supposed to have arrived by 6:30 PM, now it was almost 11 PM, and no bus. Only freshmen would go by bus, the others would drive there.

In which case people got annoyed and started to drink, and seeing that freshmen couldn't drink as they would play the next day the athletics got a little annoyed. Which almost broke a fight, hadn't it been for one of the buses arrival.

One of them arrived, at 00:15 AM, inside they put only the ones that had games the next day, the others would have to wait.

Thankfully, Alex had her first game of soccer the next day.

* * *

When they got there, at almost 4:00 AM (the driver had gotten lost on the way), they couldn't make any sound. The others had already gotten there, which meant that the coaches of each team were already there, sleeping. 

The freshmen that would play, and the coaches from each team would sleep in the same room, a really big room, which had previously been a basketball court. The others wouldn't sleep so that wasn't exactly a problem.

And by the sound of the stereos they were planning on not letting anyone sleep, which was why the door to the room was looked and only the athletic had the key, and only athletes and coaches were allowed to enter.

That didn't matter much to Alex; she was so tired that she barely had energy to look where she was going, much less to make any noise. The blonde just walked as further away from the door as possible, put her sleeping bag on the floor and feel into it, closing her eyes instantly not even caring where she was.

* * *

Marissa had heard when the freshmen arrived, had heard when they got ready for bed, had heard when some of them had put their sleeping bags next to hers, but the brunette never bothered to open her eyes. 

So, when morning came, the brunette was a little surprised when she opened her eyes and saw that lying next to her was Alex. Marissa had been the first one to wake up, so she gathered the few minutes she had before the others woke up to gaze at the blonde.

Alex. She looked like an angel when she slept. Her peaceful face, the movement of her breathing were so beautiful. Marissa couldn't help but stare at the blonde's beautiful face, at her closed eyelids, at her thin nose, at her sweet lips.

Looking at Alex's lips, the brunette started to think about how good it would be to touch said lips, to lick them, to kiss those very lips. And soon, Marissa's eyes left the blonde's lips and went down to watch the rise and fall of Alex's chest, and the brunette had to brace herself not to extend her hand and touch Alex's breast, underneath a tight wife beater that didn't cover the blonde's belly.

Alex's belly, that's where the brunette's eyes ended up, staring at the blonde's rigid belly, And down to where the blonde had a small shorts to cover her firm ass, a pair of tanned legs, strong ankles and beautiful feet. _How can it be? Even her toes are cute_. Marissa thought, as a soft smile appeared on her face.

Not able to just look anymore, the brunette made traces on Alex's face with her fingers, close enough so that the other girl would feel Marissa caress it had she been awake, but without actually touching the blonde's face.

To get a better view of the blonde's face, Marissa pushed back a few strands of the Alex's hair that had faller on the blonde's face. Even without awaking up the, the other girl felt it, and gave a sigh, smiling.

Sadly, the door to the room was unlooked by Mark and he entered telling everyone to wake up so Marissa had to, quickly take her hand away so no one would see what she had been doing. The only thing the brunette didn't know was that she wasn't the only one up before, and someone else had watched the entire interaction.

Hurriedly, Marissa got up and went to the bathroom, deciding on starting her day, leaving a still half sleep Alex unhappy that she had had the most amazing dream ever, with an angel touching her face, a the feeling that she would take to her grave, only to be woken up by Mark and his yelling that in her sleep drove the angel away.

* * *

First it had been karate, they had gotten second. Alex had been cheering on the benches with her friends, and had yelled every course she knew to the other competitors. Then it was judo, but the blonde didn't watch the end, because the next game was soccer, and Marissa wanted every girl of the team to get together before the game and talk. 

The brunette took them to a nice restaurant so they could have lunch, they still had a couple of hours before the game. Then she took them back to Harvard's headquarters, so they could discuss the game, which meant at least half an hour talk on how they had worked so hard for this and how they had to play their best.

After that they were told to change into their uniforms, which meant uniforms of the actual players of the official Harvard team had lent them. Therefore, the names on the back were all wrong. Funny, Jodie insisted Alex had hers. Marissa gave hers to Kat, actually the other girl pretty much took it, so Marissa just let her.

* * *

Alex was on the bench, watching the game. They were losing to Stanford, 1 X 0, 30 minutes, first half. Marissa had talked, yelled and swore at the whole time. She knew that if they continued to play like that, they would lose. 

"Put Alex in." Jodie told her from behind. The rest of Harvard's official female soccer team was behind the freshmen team, not inside the field, but as close as they could get. Jodie, being on the team, was there too.

"Excuse me?" Marissa answered.

"I've seen her play for real. Trust me, put Alex in"

Marissa seemed to think for a moment, and then she came to a conclusion. The brunette nodded.

"Just let me have a talk with her first." The Latino girl continued.

"OK, but fast." The soccer couch responded.

"Alex, come here." Jodie called. The blonde did what she was told. "Look at me."

"I need to watch the game"

"No, you need to look at me." Again Alex did what Jodie said. "In the next minutes you are gonna prepare to get in, right now I want you to think of nothing more than this game, think that you are going to destroy them. Find whatever you got that makes you feel angry and let it out. Do you understand me?" At that the Latino girl gave Alex a little push. But the blonde only looked at her with anger in her eyes. "Do you understand me?" And another push, a little harder this time.

"Yeah" That was the answer along with another angry stare.

"DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!?!?!" This time, the push was hard enough to almost make the blonde fall backwards.

"I UNDERSTAND YOU" Alex yelled it, ready to push Jodie back, if needed.

"Then go."

After that, Marissa told her what she wanted Alex to do. The blonde was a right winger. She got in. And they won, 3 X 1. And although Alex never made a goal herself, all 3 of them could be traced back to her somehow. The blonde just never gave the last kick.

When the referee whistled, Alex was so concentrated on the game that she was surprised to find that every one was running inside the court screaming like crazy. What the blonde had missed during the game was that everyone was cheering her name.

As soon as the referee whistled, Marissa had no doubt but to run to Alex like there was no tomorrow. That moment she forgot she probably shouldn't been doing this, that she had a boyfriend and that giving in to what she wanted to do would be wrong. But at that moment, she didn't care.

Marissa ran to Alex, and hugged the blonde girl like she was cringing to her last trait of life, never wanting to let go.

But that wish didn't come true, for others reached then, and pulled Alex away, each hugging the blonde, congratulating her. And when Alex was lifted of the floor, and put on the shoulders of two huge guys, Marissa stopped trying to reach her.

From her position, Alex could see everyone, screaming and telling how good she had played. She wasn't the only one on someone's shoulder, Kat and Ana had been lifted too.

But the blonde's eyes followed Marissa, as the brunette walked away, congratulating some of the other players, and being congratulated too by others, only to be stopped by a sandy blonde hair guy, that held Marissa a little too close for Alex's comfort, saying something on the brunette's ear, and gave Marissa a little kiss on the lips.

And then, even though Alex couldn't scream loud enough to show how happy she had been a moment before, the only thing she was feeling after what she had seen was a great wish to curl up in a ball and cry.

* * *

And that was it. A little long but I couldn't stop it sonner. Now that the beggining is over, we can get to the good stuff. Just wait until next chapter. 


	7. Hurt and injured

Every year there is a competition between freshmen from different colleges, to make sure they get the school's spirit. Alex is a freshman, Marissa is the sophomore in charged of training the girls soccer team.

Don't own anything.

Thoughts are in italic.

Flashbacks are in bold.

AN: Thanks to bigblusky, comedowntome., krisana22, Kissila, Darkredeyes and especially to drumstiix for the reviews.

* * *

Chapter 7 

One thing Alex had learned since she found out she had an infatuation on Marissa was that she could turn her own feelings of hurt into anger, and then play better. Let's just say, that afternoon and night she played much better.

After the blonde played soccer, there was boy's handball, and after that it was girl's handball. Once, Alex took a shot and hit a girl of the other team with the ball, the girl got a bleeding nose. That made the blonde feel bad a little bit, but not enough to diminish her anger.

After, there was girl's basketball, which made Jodie really happy, as she was not afraid of Alex, and was glad to see how the other girl was playing, but at the same time the Latino girl was worried, she could see that Alex wasn't all that well.

Even though she wanted to, Jodie was never able to talk to the blonde about it, because the blonde was carried out and worshiped as a godness among Harvard's students. They thought Alex was on a roll, 3 games she played, 3 games she played perfectly, and 3 games they won.

If they only knew.

Alex was doing what she could not to cry, but after the boy's baseball, the last game of the day, she had nothing to take her mind off of Marissa. And that was what the blonde feared, having to deal with what the kiss between Marissa and that boy, whom was probably Ryan, meant.

Oh, the blonde knew the brunette had a boyfriend, but seeing it, watching them as a couple cut more deeply then Alex had ever imagined.

So, Alex didn't, she chose the only way she knew that would keep her mind off of the other girl, she ran. Ran, as fast as she could, as far away as she could, for as long as she could. Away from everything and everyone. Away from the people she cared, the people that could hurt her.

She ran until she had no more strength, and had to almost crawl back to the athletes' room. The blonde didn't even have enough strength to keep her eyes open, bumping into a lot of those sleeping in her way to her sleeping bag, falling into it and welcoming the expected feeling of obliviation that followed.

* * *

Marissa had been worried sick, the last game had ended almost 3 hours before and Alex hadn't come back yet. First the brunette had been angry, after all Alex did have games the next morning and she should be sleeping.

Then, Marissa remembered that Alex was pretty responsible and that she wouldn't be out at this hour without a very good reason, and that got the brunette worried.

So, Marissa had been wake, lying on her sleeping bag, waiting for the blonde, but just as she had decided to go look for the other girl, she saw the door open, and there she was. Alex, difficultly making her way to her sleeping bag, only to collapse on it.

The brunette couldn't express in words how relieved she was, seeing Alex was safe. Marissa had already gone though all scenarios she could think of for why the blonde would still be out at that hour. But her relief vanished, as soon as she took a look at the blonde's face.

Alex had tears in her eyes, tears that had escaped unbidden from the blonde's eyes, and that she had been afraid of cleanning up, as if they would burn the blonde's hand if she ever tried to touch it.

Along side of her own sadness, Marissa felt an uncontrable urge to make whoever made Alex cry pay really bad for it.

Not knowing who to hurt, and at the same time finding it impossible not to do anything, the brunette settled into hugging Alex's sleeping form, softly massaging the blonde's head, and placing a kiss on her forehead. As if comforting Alex, even if she wasn't wake to know it.

It actually calmed the blonde down, her breathing slowed down, and her tense muscles relaxed, as Alex's unconscious form enjoyed Marissa's caress.

Even thought Marissa wanted to sleep holding Alex, she knew she shouldn't, so the brunette made herself comfortable back in her own sleeping bag, settling in only holding Alex's hand.

But Marissa didn't know that she wasn't the only one worried about Alex and had been wake waiting for the blonde's return.

* * *

The next morning, again, Marissa was the first to wake up. Even when she was asleep, the brunette knew she couldn't be found like that, and her brain made her return to the world of the living before any of the others did. 

Again, she took the time to gaze at Alex.

Again, she found herself unable to look way.

Again, she only left when Mark entered to wake everyone up, before people could see their holding hands.

* * *

That morning there was swimming, both girls' and boys'. Of course, people were eager to watch guys and girls in their swimming suits, even if the girls wouldn't wear a bikini, it still showed a lot of skin.

That had gotten Alex a little uncomfortable, seeing she had nothing to cover her legs and hundreds, maybe thousands of people watching.

That's when the blonde saw it, Marissa in the middle of the crowd, staring intensely at the blonde, with another blonde hugging her from behind. Only the blonde hugging Marissa was sandy blonde, and male. And he was so dense that he hadn't even realized that his girlfriend was staring at someone else.

He wouldn't, as he too was busy staring at other girls, sometimes even the one that his girlfriend was.

It was then that Alex felt her anger resurface, the anger from the night before. The blonde didn't know why but for some reason during the night she had calmed down, felt peaceful, like she was in the place she belonged. She felt happy, and the feeling had lasted until this morning, when she saw Marissa with Ryan.

Then she just felt hurt, and welcomed the feeling of anger that followed, it would keep her in her toes, keep her focused on the game and away from the pain that came first.

The blonde swam 3 times, that being 100m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle, 4x100m medley. The blonde won all 3 of them. Actually, the one she swam alone, she finished with half a pool between her and the second girl.

* * *

Next, they would have the second game of soccer, which had Alex making sure she kept her distance from Marissa, both during lunch and all the talking before the game. 

Karen, the girl that had cried when Mark told them about the letter sent to the dean, noticed Alex's mood and decided to talk to her. Karen belonged to the Harvard's girl's soccer team, the official one.

"Hey, you ok?" Karen knew Alex was a little shy, but a very sweet person if you took the time to actually meet her.

"Yeah, fine" The blonde responded

"You sure, you seem a bit, I don't know, different? You're not getting cold feet, are you? Not after playing what 3 games?"

"And swimming. No, my feet are pretty warm, I can assure you."

"Good, so is there something else bothering you?"

"No. Thanks for the concern, but I'm great, really."

"If you say so, but you know, if there something you need to talk, I'm here."

"Thanks, but I'm great. To prove it to you, the first goal I score today, it'll dedicate to you." The blonde stated confidently.

"Okay, I'll cheer for you, then. Good luck."

"Thanks"

This time, Alex would start the game.

* * *

Alex was yet unsuccessful to deliver Karen's goal, it was already 40 minutes of the second half, and they were losing by one goal. 1 X 0. Princeton was already claming their victory.

Marissa had already changed all 3 players she could, but it didn't matter, as the goal that Harvard needed still didn't come.

Disappointed, Marissa stood farter for the field, where those of Harvard were, allowing Ryan to get close enough to touch her shoulders, as a sign of comfort. A sign not missed by a certain blonde player.

It was then that Anna, the left winger, crossed the ball, it passed everyone inside the penalty area, going all the way to Alex, on the other side.

The blonde took the ball and entered the penalty area, running as fast as she could. The blonde kicked the ball to the left, fooling the goal keeper, who thought she would kick it inside the goal, and ran as fast as she could, as if passing the ball to herself, falling on the grass so she could reach the ball, and with the slightest touch of her foot, the ball was inside the goal.

Before she could get up, there was Anna, Kat and Lilly around her, congratulating the blonde.

"No, run back, we still have to score another one. Go back." Was the blonde's only response as she too got up and ran to the other side of the field, at the same time looking for Karen, and pointing at her, screaming.

"THAT WAS FOR YOU! FOR YOU!" Of course, Karen never heard what Alex said, but she understood the gesture none the less.

Alex wanted to get the ball back on the game as fast as she could, the game was tied, but if they let it end like that, there would be an extra-time, but they wouldn't be as motivated to score as they were at the time that they had just scored the first one, they would have already cooled off.

No, Alex wanted the second goal now, and she was gonna get it, no matter what.

As predicted, Harvard was much more motivated to play then Princeton, which just wanted the game to end. No, Alex wanted more, she wanted to show Marissa that she couldn't just give up on them, and curl up against her boyfriend.

No, Alex would prove it to the brunette, they could do it.

That's why, when Princeton restarted the game, Alex ran and took the ball, not even bothering to look at whoever had it, and as Princeton, was so shocked that Alex had stolen the ball that they let get to the half she needed to run before they started to run after her, even then only 3 girls got to Alex, but she dribbled them all, barely taking notice of their presence, and ran straight to the goal.

As the goal keeper ran to her, Alex pretended she would give a low kick, making the goal keeper fall on the floor to try to defend it, but Alex only gave a little peck on the ball so it would go over the goal keeper and straight to the goal.

This one they celebrated, taking as much time as they could.

When Princeton restarted the game, Harriet, a Princeton girl, didn't even bother with the ball, she ran, straight to Alex, tackling the blonde to the floor and punching her.

Before Alex had even time to register what was happening, Harriet was pulled away from the blonde and sent away by the referee. In turn, Alex was taken off the field, as she had a bleeding nose.

When Marissa saw Harriet jump Alex, she had just run without another thought, but when the brunette had gotten there, the other girl had already been pulled away from Alex, much to Marissa's dismay, as she had felt an uncontrollable urge to beat Harriet up.

Instead, the brunette knelt next to Alex, checking her injures. Seeing that the blonde only had a bleeding nose, Marissa just escorted her to the sideline, where they tried to contain the bleeding.

The blonde wasn't allowed inside the field with blood on her, for that reason, not only they had to stop the bleeding but also they had to clean her up. Marissa was talking with Alex while she cleaned the blonde up, staring at her, blatantly so, but Alex wasn't listening, she wasn't looking at Marissa, she was afraid of what she would feel if she did.

Alex could either be angry and shout at Marissa or the blonde could realize that she couldn't stay this close with the blonde wiping her nose, and just kiss her senseless.

Alex didn't want to do neither, so she kept her eyes and on the field, making sure that Marissa thought that the blonde was still high from the game.

The blonde did get back on the game, but it was pretty much over, only 2 minutes, which they used to pass the ball around so time ran out. And then, Alex was pulled around, everyone wanted to touch her, to congratulate her, hug her.

Marissa kept her distance this time, knowing she wouldn't get to close to Alex with that much people around.

Besides Marissa had already congratulated and complemented the blonde, even if the other girl wasn't listening, and the brunette knew it. Marissa could wait some time outside the camp field to do it again; at least she thought she could.

Only, the blonde was really taking her time.

* * *

AN: I know i promised some action this chapter, but it was getting too ling and i had to cut it in half. The next one should probably up next week, seeing as it already half written, besides it will have what i promised, i've already wrote it.

Please review.


	8. Washing

Every year there is a competition between freshmen from different colleges, to make sure they get the school's spirit. Alex is a freshman, Marissa is the sophomore in charged of training the girls soccer team.

fDon't own anything.

Thoughts are in italic.

Flashbacks are in bold.

AN: Thanks to comedowntome, malex4ever, shassy25, bigblusky, The Angel's Devil, krisana22 and silverscreen crush for the amazing reviews.f

* * *

Besides Marissa had already congratulated and complemented thfe blonde, even if the other girl wasn't listening, and the brunette knew it. Marissa could wait some time outside the camp field to do it again; at least she thought she could.

Only, the blonde was really taking her time.

* * *

Chapter 8

Alex had a hard time separating from the people that wanted to congratulate her. Although she really was happy they had won, and most of all, how they did it; now the blonde had time to think about Marissa and Ryan and hugging, and kissing and holding hands, and Marissa belonging to someone else.

Alex just wanted to be alone. So she sneaked out of everyone's reach and sat in the back of the field, behind an old, nearly-falling wall, where no one could see her. She couldn't leave, as the only away out was by the front, but the blonde didn't have any intention to; she just wanted to be away from people for a while.

What she didn't know was that she wasn't alone, Harriet had seen her sneak out, and followed the blonde with some friends.

"You shouldn't have done that." The Princeton girl said.

"What?" The blonde responded without looking up.

"Won" Harriet stated, at same time punching Alex in the belly.

As soon as the blonde understood what was happening, she tried to fight back, but she was outnumbered, it was one against 5. So she laid there, being kicked from different sides, without any way to defend herself.

* * *

Deciding to see what was taking the blonde so long, Marissa went to look for Alex, but was not able to see the blonde anywhere, so she decided to leave thinking that maybe Alex had gone past her without Marissa noticing.

Only she heard some muffled sounds from somewhere near her, and decided to check it out, just to be shocked by the sight of Alex being beaten up.

"STOP THAT! NOW" Marissa yelled, out of shock and anger.

"Why should we?" But they stopped none the less.

Marissa just took out her walkie-talkie, which all coaches and Mark had, in case that there was any trouble.

"GET BACK INSIDE! I NEED SOME HELP" The brunette knew better than try to take them all herself, as much as she wanted to make them pay.

"What? You think we are afraid of you, that we believe you, that someone is coming in here and that we should just run out? I'm not an idiot." Harriet said.

"You don't need to believe me. And you are an idiot, idiot enough not to believe in me."

"MARISSA, WHERE ARE YOU?" Someone screamed from behind.

"HERE! QUICKLY!"

And there it was. Those that were in range of the walkie-talkie and had gotten Marissa's message and gotten those around to help, at least 20 of them. Harriet and her friends didn't even try to fight; they just inched away from them, being trapped in a circle of people, until something more definitive could be done.

As soon as they inched away from Alex, Marissa ran to her side, trying to see how hurt the blonde was, and somehow make Alex feel better. Karen was by her side, along with Jodie, Mark and Summer.

Alex's face was all bloody, her shirt was drenched; her shorts thorn, she was breathing rapidly and had both eyes shut, but the blonde was still wake.

"Alex, are you okay?" Marissa asked.

"Just peachy" Was the blonde's only sarcastic response.

"Come on; let's see what we can do for you." The brunette said, trying to help Alex to her feet. They did it with some help from Mark, and half carried her to Marissa's car.

"I'll take her back to our room, clean her up a bit let her rest, and if I see her wounds are serious, I'll take her to the hospital"

"Okay, go. Take the keys. We will wait for the cops, and see what we are gonna do with those." Mark said, pointing at Harriet and her friends.

* * *

When they got to their room/basketball court, Marissa insisted on helping Alex walk, even if the blonde claimed that she was fine. First they got the things the blonde would need to take a shower.

And then they got inside the changing room, which was where everyone took a shower. There was no one there, not in the room, nor in the bathroom, everyone was somewhere else watching some game.

Even if the blonde was used to take her clothes off in front of girls in the changing room, she was shy about taking her clothes off in front of Marissa, Alex felt nervous with the other girl watching her, and she asked Marissa to turn around.

Only problem was that her bruises made it so that she couldn't take her clothes off on her own, and she had to ask for some help from Marissa.

Carefully, Marissa took the blonde's shirt off, one arm at a time, and then her head, making sure that the shirt didn't stick too much on the blonde. And then the blonde's top came off, as slow and as carefully as the shirt had been. With much difficulty, Marissa was respectful enough not to stare at the blonde's bare chest, making her eyes lock with Alex's.

Not taking her eyes from Alex's, Marissa continued taking the blonde's clothes off. Knelling down to find Alex's sneakers, and careful to take each one of them off; Marissa continued her task; then, she pushed down the blonde's long uniform socks, and finally took them off, trying not to inflict more pain to Alex, but being rather difficult, as her eyes remained still on the blonde's.

Next, came Alex's shorts, which thankfully were loose, and were easier to get rid of. The only thing left were Alex's panties, and as Marissa took it off, she felt her hands tremble. Pulling it down, Alex was left in her naked glory, and that made it really hard for Marissa not to take a peek.

Instead, Marissa got up, coming face to face with Alex. Pushing the blonde a little backwards, Marissa made sure Alex would be under the spray when the brunette turned the water on. Putting her arms around the blonde, Marissa turned on the faucet, which was behind Alex.

The water fell both on Alex and Marissa, even if the brunette was fully clothed, but she didn't care.

The brunette knew that Alex had only asked her to undress her, and Marissa didn't hear any requests for herself to wash Alex, but she didn't wait for it and decided to do it anyway. Hearing no protests from Alex, she continued. Marissa passed her hands over Alex's face, washing the dry blood she found there with some help from the water.

Seeing the bruises and cuts that showed on the blonde's face after it was cleaned up made Marissa angry that someone would dare to hurt something so beautiful. But she decided to let her anger slide, as she had more things to worry about than those pathetic losers, like cleaning the rest of Alex up.

And clean Marissa did. With some soap on her hands, Marissa cleaned Alex's neck, her shoulders, her arms, her chest, her belly, her ass, her legs, and her feet. Trying to be as respectful as possible, this time not being able to not see what she was doing.

Alex was having a hard time not moaning out loud, it was everything she had dreamed of, even better. Marissa had her hands everywhere, caressing the blonde's skin. Alex actually did wish for her wounds to continue bleeding, so Marissa would have to wash it again.

Marissa wasn't coping much better, she wanted to prolong this as much as she could, for it was her only chance of touching Alex like this, even if the brunette wasn't doing all the touching she wanted, Marissa didn't want to be too obvious.

Still, Marissa washed the same spot at least 3 times after it was cleaned, making it last for as long as she could.

After Marissa was done, and seeing that the blonde had no major cuts that needed special attention, the brunette took the time to wash Alex's head, and then condition it.

Then, again, Marissa put her arms around Alex to close the faucet.

Then the brunette took Alex towel's, thinking that maybe she should have brought one for herself, as Marissa was completely wet, both from the shower as from the view of Alex's naked body. She, then, hung it around Alex.

And afraid that maybe by rubbing it she would hurt the blonde, Marissa just held the towel where it was. But to make Alex dry faster, Marissa hugged Alex and the towel, giving her some body heat. Their bodies were so close together, that air had a hard time passing between them.

They noticed that and locking their gazes, none of them could take it anymore. Without knowing who did it, and not caring, their heads moved towards each other, their lips came together, slowly, softly, as their eyes closed and fireworks exploded behind their eyelids.

* * *

And that was it, so did you like it?

And malex4ever, i couldnt really go through your idea, as this chapter was pretty much written when i posted the other one, but i'll try to use it somewhere along the way. It's a long story, i think i can squeeze it in where. ;)

Please review.


	9. I promise

Every year there is a competition between freshmen from different colleges, to make sure they get the school's spirit. Alex is a freshman, Marissa is the sophomore in charged of training the girls soccer team.

Don't own anything.

Thoughts are in italic.

Flashbacks are in bold.

A.N.: Thanks to malex4ever, The Angel's Devil, calilola, bigblusky, OCmalexfan, silverscreen crush, shassy25, drumstiix, Kissila. I loved your reviews.

malex4ever, i don't need to follow your idea, i want to. i really liked it. and i'll try any idea that anyone says, that is, if it doesn't change the plot too much but, seeing as we still have a long way to go, i can probably fit a lot of ideas somewhere.

and for all of you who want Ryan gone, well, that's not much i can do, he needs to stay for a while yet, but i can promise that he won't stay until the end.

last, i hope you didnt think last chapter was too erotic or something, the scene had to there but i didnt want it to be too grafic. hope you weren't offended.

* * *

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Chapter 9

They noticed that and locking their gazes, none of them could take it anymore. Without knowing who did it, and not caring, their heads moved towards each other, their lips came together, slowly, softly, as their eyes closed and fireworks exploded behind their eyelids.

It was soft at first, barely enough pressure to feel the others lips, it was a time to taste each other. Soon, Marissa felt she needed more and applied more pressure to the blonde's lips, taking her tongue out to taste the outside of Alex's mouth, at the same time trying to get past that barrier.

Not quite sure what to do but at the same time wanting Marissa on her mouth, Alex opened her lips, granting the brunette's unstoppable tongue entrance. As soon as Marissa felt the blonde's mouth open, she entered her, working her tongue as if there was no tomorrow.

Alex didn't know what to do, but the brunette didn't seem to mind, as Marissa never wavered from her goal, and soon the blonde began to work with her, moving her tongue a little and then getting more and bolder with time, falling into a fight for dominance.

By then, Marissa had her right hand at the nape of the other girl's neck, lightly pulling Alex's hair and her left one on the blonde's lower back. The towel was long forgotten on the floor.

Alex was in heaven, her uncountable dreams of this couldn't compare to the real thing, the feel of the brunette's demanding tongue, her caressing hands, and her wet body were driving the blonde out of her mind.

Marissa wasn't doing much better, she had never felt anything like this before, but she had no idea if that was a good or a bad thing. And right at that moment, she didn't care.

Instead, the brunette just pushed the other girl against the nearest wall, both of them stumbling a little to get there. Only, when getting there, the blonde hit her back too hard against the wall, hurting her already sore back.

"Ouch" Alex screamed, breaking the kiss.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I guess I just hit my back against the wall." The blonde answered, trying to restart the kiss, but Marissa was having none of that.

"Oh! I'm so sorry; I completely forgot you were hurt. I have no idea what came over me."

"Doesn't matter, come on, don't stop." Alex had never felt this before, and she had a sinking feeling that this might be the only time it happened, so she wouldn't let anything like a few bruises and cuts get in the way of the precious time she had.

"No, we need to stop. You need to rest." But she didn't sound that sure, and the blonde took advantage of that by placing small kisses on Marissa's face, finally making the other forget about the blonde's back.

Back into it, Marissa soon restarted her demanding behavior, harshly moving her hands up and down Alex's back, trying to feel all of her. Alex couldn't be happier, actually she could, if every time the brunette's hands touched one f her cuts, she didn't feel so much pain, but the blonde wasn't about to stop Marissa.

Alex had her mind set on enjoying Marissa's caresses for as long as possible. That is, until the brunette touched a particularly deep cut and Alex wasn't able to suppress her hiss of pain.

"I'm so sorry. God, I can't believe I did it again. I have no idea what has gotten into me." _Actually, I do: Alex._

"Don't worry about it. It's just me being silly."

"No. You better get some rest, you had a long day, and it's far from over. Summer asked me to take you back to the volleyball's game tonight."

"But-"

"No buts" _Okay, maybe just Alex's, they are so nice and tight and- Bad Marissa, stop it. _"Let's get you in bed."

Seeing that she wasn't going to change Marissa's mind, the blonde just followed her out, after she put on some loose and short clothes.

Marissa was waiting for her on her own sleeping bag, which was right beside Alex's. The brunette still had her wet clothes on.

"Aren't you going to change?"

"Later, after you are asleep."

"I'm not sleepy." It was true and seeing Marissa's drenched clothes wasn't helping matters.

"Come on, I will talk to you until you fall asleep"

"You will be here quite a while then."

"I think I can do that."

So Alex laid down on her own sleeping bag, facing Marissa.

"What are we gonna talk about then?"

"I don't know, you are the one that's supposed to talk to me until I fall asleep. You pick."

"Hum, OK. Why did you give your first goal to Karen?" Marissa wasn't one to beat around the bush.

"What?"

"You heard me. Why Karen?" _It's not jealousy; I just wanna know why Alex picked her over me that trained her for months._ Marissa rationalized.

"I don't know, she was just really nice to me before the game."

"But you barely spoke to her." _Had Marissa been watching me today?_

"I know, but she saw that I was a little off and came to talk to me and I ended up promising that I would give her my first goal."

"And that was it?"

"Yeah, pretty much yeah."

"Yeah or pretty much yeah?"

"Yeah, I guess. What's up with the 20 questions?"

"Nothing, I just didn't think you were that good friends." Actually, what she meant was girlfriends. _The fact that Karen dated girls never bothered me, but why does it now?_

"Really? So you know everything about me now?"

"That's not what I meant. I just wanted you to do it for me okay?"

"You mean…"

"That would make me really happy if you dedicated your next goal to me." Marissa said with in a rush.

"I guess I can do that" Alex responded with a silly smile.

"You promise?"

"I promise"

"If we keep talking like this you won't be able to sleep"

"I don't wanna sleep"

"You need the rest, believe me."

"I'm fine"

"Why won't you sleep?"

"I'm not sleepy"

"Really? So, why can't keep your eyes open? Let it go. S-L-E-E-P."

"No."

"Why not?"

"It's…. It's just…"Alex was a little hesitant to say it. "It's just that I'm afraid you won't be here when I wake up"

"Oh. Well, in that case, I have to stay here. Get some sleep; I will be here when you wake up"

"You promise?" Alex said, repeating Marissa's words.

"I promise"

And just like that, Alex fell into a deep slumber.

And Marissa proceeded to do what she found out was one of her favorite things to do: watch Alex sleep. The brunette watched the other's girl's hands, neck and chest move up and down as she breathed.

Then she remembered how out of control she had been when they were making out. Marissa couldn't believe she had acted that way; she was more of a passive girl when it came to that kind of stuff. But it had been so good, and Marissa wanted more, no she needed more.

'_It was so good, when can we do it again? Well, I guess I will have to wait at least until Alex get better, but how long will it take? I don't wanna wait too long. But I guess she needs to get better first. But why? She wasn't complaining about it. But she was certainly in pain. Then why did we lose so much time? Why didn't we got together before?'_

And that was when Marissa remembered why they hadn't gotten together before. So, she got up and left, with only one thought in her head. _'What did I do?'_

* * *

Alex woke up with an incessant ringing of her cell. Without opening her eyes, the blonde picked it up and answered. 

" 'ello?" Alex said with a sleepy voice.

"Alex? Where are you?"

"Summer?"

"Yeah. Where are you?"

"I'm in our room. Marissa told me to sleep for a little while."

"That's great, but our game starts in half an hour and you are not here."

"Sorry"

"It's not your fault, Marissa should have woken you up, I told her we had a game, and I told her the exact time. Where is she anyway? Is she there with you?"

"She is…" Alex opened her eyes, expecting to see Marissa, but the blonde's eyes only found her empty sleeping bag. Then looking around the room, Alex found out she was alone. "I don't know"

"She is not answering her cell either. I will kill her when I find her. But right now we need to bring you here. Get ready, I will send Seth to pick you up."

"Okay"

"Alex?"

"Hum?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sure."

"It's just that your voice seems a little, I don't know, sad?"

"I guess I'm just thinking about what happened earlier." It was the truth, Alex was thinking about what had happened earlier… with Marissa. But Summer didn't know that.

"Do you feel like playing tonight? It's okay if you don't want to"

"I can try, but I'm not sure I will be any good." In truth Alex felt like crawling back to bed and not waking up anytime soon.

"How about this, 5 minutes in the game, then we decide if you continue on the game or not?"

"Okay"

"Good, now go get ready, Seth can't be too far away. See you in a few."

"See you"

Alex got up and decided to look for Marissa; maybe Alex just didn't see her. The brunette had to be around; she had promised Alex that she should be with the blonde when she woke up. Alex checked the room, one more time, maybe the brunette had been there and the blonde had just not seen her. Not seeing anyone, Alex decided to check the bathroom, but no sign of Marissa. Her last shoot was outside, maybe the brunette needed some air, but there was no Marissa there either.

Giving up, Alex walked back to the room and numbly, started to get ready. The blonde didn't want to think, didn't want to feel. Alex just wanted to get to the night without having a breakdown.

Not 10 minutes later, Seth got there. Only with a little surprise when Alex entered the car.

"Hey, Alex, this is my brother Ryan. THE RYAN everyone talks about." Fate had a cruel sense of humor.

"Marissa's boyfriend?"

"Yeah. Pleasure to meet you." Ryan said.

"You too" But right at the moment, Alex just wanted to bang his head against the window. "I thought only Seth was coming"

"Trust me, if Seth drove, he would only get here after the game had ended."

"Hey, I resent that. I just make a point of driving in a safe speed."

"Yes, one that loses a race to a turtle." Ryan said, ending the argument "But Alex, how are you feeling? I heard of what happened to you."

"I'm fine. Thanks"

"No problem. It's just that I've heard so much about you, you will be the name of this Frestion and I would hate to see you hurt"

"Hum? Thanks? I've heard a lot about you too."

"From Marissa, I'm sure. She just can't stop talking about me. But tell me, did she take good care of you? Or do I have to give her a lecture?" Actually, Marissa had never mentioned him before. And what he said made Alex feel a little weird, because it didn't sound like he was kidding, besides if there was a topic that Alex didn't feel like talking, it was Marissa.

"Yeah, sure. She was great" Alex said, trying to end the subject. Besides, she wasn't lying.

* * *

"Alex, good you're here" Summer greeted her, when the blonde arrived 

"Yeah"

"Okay, get ready to get in. Let's see if you are up to play tonight"

"Okay"

But, she wasn't. Marissa found her way back, and there she was. Quiet, in the back, with an unsure look on her face. Alex saw Marissa alone, looking at the blonde. and then there was Ryan. Ryan holding her, caressing her, Ryan kissing Marissa.

5 minutes, and the blonde barely had energy to stand up. Soon, Summer got her back in the bench.

"Hey, it's OK. Next game you start, hopefully, without today's events." Alex couldn't agree more with Summer.

* * *

And that's it. It's longer than the others to compensate for the time i took to update it. My classes are over this year, so i'll try to update faster now. let's see if i can.

Please review.


	10. Never Again

Every year there is a competition between freshmen from different colleges, to make sure they get the school's spirit. Alex is a freshman, Marissa is the sophomore in charged of training the girls soccer team.

Don't own anything.

Thoughts are in italic.

Flashbacks are in bold.

AN: Thanks to shassy25, The Angel's Devil, krisana22, justme, drumstiix, madridcc, OCmalexfan, TheLyricsThatComposeXMyLifeX, Dar19, angela, ms.dee, SamiGmeinweser and ILUVU4870 for the awesome reviews.

Should I thank ifoundnemoagain again as she sent me 2 reviews under different names? I think so. So, I thank you in double.

Is that even possible?

* * *

Chapter 10

**Marissa had no idea what to do. She had just kissed a girl. Not just kissed, she had made out with a girl. And not any girl, THE GIRL. Marissa Cooper had just made out with Alex Kelly.**

**And the brunette had no idea what she was going to do. **

**She was Marissa Cooper. Popular, friend-full Marissa Cooper. The same Marissa that had a boyfriend. But an especially straight Marissa Cooper. **

**But she hadn't always been like that. No, until her freshman college year, Marissa had been nothing. She hadn't been one of the cool kids, or one of the geeks. Until college, Marissa had been nothing.**

**Before, it was like the brunette had never existed. Marissa didn't have any friends, the closest she got to it was her sister, and even then they could barely stand to be in the same room.**

**But it had all changed at her first day at Harvard, then she had met Summer and the feisty brunette had introduced her to everyone, including Marissa's boyfriend Ryan.**

**Ryan. He was her knight in shining armor. He changed her life. On account of him, people wanted to talk to Marissa, be her friend, they looked up to her, and that was something she wasn't willing to give up.**

**No, she had to keep up with the status quo. And that was her decision when she ended her run/walk. **

**That was still her decision when she saw Seth, Ryan and Alex getting out of the car, and entering a gym, with Ryan trailing behind as he too had seen her.**

**That was a little weird seeing that among the three, she was dating one and making out with another.**_** Not making, made. Past tense.**_

**Marissa had reached a decision and she was sticking to it. To prove it, she caught up with her trailing boyfriend and hugged him from behind.**

* * *

"Alex! Hey, how are you feeling this morning?" 

"Karen, hi. I'm better, I think. Thanks."

"You think?"

"Yeah, it still stings like hell, but not like yesterday."

"Can I see it?"

"Hum… Okay, I guess." The blonde answered as she lift her blouse a little so Karen could see her belly and more so she could see her back.

"There are some nasty bruises here, and some spots are turning black. You should have kept the ice longer."

"That would be hard seeing as I didn't put any" The blonde said trying to lighten the mood but Karen was having none of that.

"Why not?"

"Guess it just slipped my mind."

"What about bandages?"

"What about them?"

"Where are them? Did you even put any?"

"Not really, yesterday was kinda a long day."

"I know, but someone should have done it for you. Hum, I have to go; I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay, bye."

* * *

"Marissa!" 

"Karen, hey."

"Hi" The girl said trying to keep calm. "I thought you were supposed to take care of Alex last night."

"I was. I did." Marissa had a sinking feeling she was not going to like the end of this conversation.

"Really? Then why didn't you put any ice on her belly last night? Now it's all purple. And why aren't any of her wounds dressed?" Then Marissa realized she definitely wasn't going to like the end of this conversation.

"I may have forgotten"

"How? It was a simple thing, clean the wound and then protect it."

"I guess she got a little distracted." Jodie said, putting in her tone all the reasons she thought Alex had distracted Marissa.

Jodie had seen Karen walk threatenly towards Marissa and decided she had to hear what the two were talking about.

Ignoring Jodie's comment, Karen continued.

"Actually I don't care. Just get it done. Right now, find Alex and dress her wounds. Got it?"

"Yeah, sure." But the girl hadn't waited for Marissa's answer and had already walked away.

"Jodie?" Marissa called before the Latino girl had a chance of slipping away.

"Yes?"

"How did you know what happened in the bathroom?"

"Hum?"

"Did Alex tell you or did you see us, you know, at it?" Marissa really didn't want to talk about it, but if there was a chance that it had gotten out, the brunette had to be prepared. _To deny it, of course._

"Actually, I was just teasing you, but thanks for the update. I had no idea the two of you had gone that far." The other girl responded, smirking at Marissa before joining her friends.

* * *

After Marissa recovered from her conversation with Jodie Marissa set off to find Alex. The brunette had decided that there wasn't much she could do, seeing that begging the Latino not to tell her secret would just make the other girl do the exact opposite. 

So, all there was left for Marissa to do was hope that Jodie would keep her mouth shut.

But Alex seemed to b avoiding the brunette, not that Marissa blamed her. She completely understood where she was coming from. But Karen had given Marissa a task, one she fully expected to be done. And Karen could be quite scaring when she wanted to be.

Half an hour later, Marissa found Alex trying to pass unnoticed by the brunette.

"Alex, wait a second."

"Marissa, hey. Sorry, can't stay. Have to be at the game."

"No, you don't. It's men's football, you can spare me a minute."

"Fine, what you want?"

_You._ "Karen asked me to dress your wounds"

"They are fine they way they are."

"No, they are not. I should have done it last night. Sorry."

"Seriously there-"

"No, Alex, it could get infected or something. Let's just go somewhere more private so I can do it and then you can go back to the game."

"Fine."

It was still early, so there were still some people in the bedroom, so they decided to do it in the bathroom. At least, there would only be girls.

"Okay, Alex, take off your shirt." And desperately Marissa wanted to say it with a whole new meaning.

Turning her back to the brunette, Alex did as she was told and Marissa gasped. She should have really put some ice on the blonde's back, and if that was any clue, also on her front.

"It will probably sting a little."

"That's fine."

So Marissa did it, mechanically, trying not to let her eyes and hands wander through the blonde's body. Alex didn't even look at her, not even once, not even when it was on the blonde's face that Marissa was putting bandages.

When the brunette was done, the bathroom was already empty with the exception of the two girls, and Alex hurried out of the door.

"Alex." The brunette called, stopping the blonde's retreat.

"Yes?" Alex said without turning back.

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't keep my promise last night" That gave Alex a little hope. _Maybe she will say what I want her to._ The blonde thought. "I'm not like that. I don't know what happened, I don't usually just kiss people like that. I have a boyfriend and I really don't swing that away. It will never happen again. And I would really appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about it."

Alex's only response was a nod as she walked out of the door. The blonde couldn't trust herself to speak.

But what Marissa didn't see was what would have made her change her mind. A single tear running down Alex's cheek.

* * *

I know, i know. You all just wanna kill me. No, its not over. So, wait a while. It will get better.

Please review.


	11. Just Curious

Every year there is a competition between freshmen from different colleges, to make sure they get the school's spirit. Alex is a freshman, Marissa is the sophomore in charged of training the girls soccer team.

Don't own anything.

Thoughts are in italic.

Flashbacks are in bold.

AN: Thanks to ?, kookookachoo, silverscreen crush, TheLyricsThatComposeXMyLifeX, ILUVU4870, kelsey, shassy25, s3xy-Lady, Lang, bigblusky, palex80, drumstiix, Elanor90 and DD for the reviews.

Lang, can you be sure of that? who am i kidding, i'm sucker for happy endings ;)

Elanor90, glad u liked it, but i must say thats not gonna be like that forever. but i'm not sure if i should have told u that.

And DD, they are not teenagers. They are very responsible and calm young adults. Nah! You are right, they shouldn't get away with it.

Now, on with the story.

* * *

Chapter 11 

"Alex, hey, wait up" The blonde said joining Alex.

"Anna, hi."

"Where have you been? It seems like ever since we got here, I haven't talked to my best friend anymore."

"I guess I got kinda busy with all the games and stuff" Alex had no intention of informing Anna of what 'stuff' she was referring to.

"Well, now we are gonna spend some time together."

"Shouldn't we be heading to some game?" Alex already knew the answer but she figured that if she kept Anna's mind busy, the other girl wouldn't ask what was wrong with her.

"It's men's football, but by the time we get there it will probably over. What took you so long anyway?"

"My wounds needed dressing. But if it took this long, why did you wait for me?"

" 'cause it seems like we haven't seen each other since we got here." Anna replied matter of factually "Besides why didn't you call me to help you with you wounds? You didn't need to do it yourself."

"I didn't, Marissa did it for me." Alex said, trying to be as casual as possible, but Marissa's words still echoed in her mind "So what did you have in mind for us?"

"I heard of this ice cream shop that's just amazing."

"Anna, it's freezing"

"And what's your point?"

* * *

Marissa had walked out a while later, she needed a moment to fully understand what she had just done. She had made a decision out of fear, but a conscious one none the less. Marissa knew that if she lived in a perfect world, she probably would have given whatever Marissa and Alex had a chance. 

But they didn't live in a perfect world and Marissa had no intention of being different, being pointed at, being whispered about, being the thing mothers warn their children against.

No, Marissa wanted to be normal. She wanted a husband, a house with a white picket fence, 2.5 children and a dog. That's all she wanted, that's all she was supposed to want. Well, maybe a car and bunch of clothes too.

Besides who was to that everything that they had already had wasn't it. What if they gave it a shot only to find out they were completely different people that knew how to kiss? That they couldn't hold a conversation with each other? Would they base their entire relationship on great sex? And not even that Marissa could be sure of, as they hadn't done it. The brunette only assumed that the sex would be good, based on the way the Alex had made her feel the night before.

_We probably wouldn't even have lasted a day._ Marissa reasoned with herself.

That's why the brunette was so sure she had made the right decision. But as she watched Anna teasing Alex as they walked away, Marissa couldn't help but feel a pang of regret.

* * *

Eventually Anna had convinced Alex to go to the ice cream shop, much to the girl's protests, but getting there Alex could thank whoever looked out for her that the place had a very good heater. 

"So, tell me Alex, what's been going on with your life?"

"Nothing much, you know games, games and games. And oh, yes, I almost forgot: I got beaten up" Alex desperately needed to talk to someone about what happened with Marissa, but she wasn't sure if she could discuss it with Anna. After all, they only knew each other for a few months.

"It sucked. You know, when I found out you were already playing volleyball. If someone had told me, I would have gone to find you"

"I know, don't worry. Last night, I was pretty much out of it. Don't even know how I got back"

"Yeah. Then maybe that's why you sucked that bad in the game" Anna said laughing

"Hey. Watch it"

"But seriously, how are you feeling?"

"Better I guess" _If I just ignore my heart._

"If you need something, let me know."

Then there was a moment of silence, where they both enjoyed their own ice creams. But Alex had something in her mind, something she wasn't quite sure how to approach.

"Anna?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you…" Alex took a deep breath before continuing "Have you ever felt something for a girl?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know, have you ever felt like you wanted to kiss another girl?"

The other girl took a moment to respond, not that the question had taken her by surprise but she knew she couldn't say the wrong thing.

"Well, I guess that what I can say is that I have thought about it, I have always wanted to find out what it would be like. Like going bung jumping, I would think: I've always wanted to try it but I probably never will." Anna answered truthfully.

"Eww, that's just gross." The answer came from a girl that had overheard their conversation. "That just isn't right. There is a reason to why other species don't do it with the same sex. Because it's WRONG. And you two would do well to remember it."

"Don't you have somewhere else to be?" Anna responded and the girl left with a huff and a few unlady-like words. "Why did you wanna know, Alex?"

Alex had been quiet during the whole interaction, she had recognized the girl that had interrupted their conversation, they had a class together. And the girl's reaction was exactly why she was so afraid of talking to anyone about her feelings.

"Nothing really, just curious." At that moment Anna wanted to kill the girl that had interrupted them. She was sure Alex was starting to open up to her new friend, and now she had put up her defenses again.

* * *

Marissa wasn't in a very good mood, nope she REALLY wasn't. You see, the brunette was having an abstinence syndrome. Abstinence of a beautiful, sweet and intelligent blonde girl named Alex that she hadn't seen ever since morning. 

It was weird that Marissa felt like this after all she said to Alex, but it had been over 24 hours that she had last kissed the blonde, and yes, she was suffering from a very severe abstinence syndrome.

Marissa had missed the blonde girl all day long. She longed to see Alex, but the girl seemed to have vanished into thin air. No one knew where she was, and Marissa had asked, asked the people Marissa usually hung out with, people that had become her fans, people that might have seen her. But nothing, no one had seen the blonde.

Alex hadn't been at any of the games, even the ones she was supposed to play. Marissa had even asked Jodie about Alex's whereabouts, but only got an angry 'shove it' in response. It worried Marissa, because the blonde was adamant that morning to get to the games, and besides the last time Alex went missing Marissa found her being beaten up.

It wasn't until she saw the blonde leaning against a tree in a local park nearby that Marissa calmed down. Not exactly calmed down, she wanted to beat Alex up for making her so worried and then, well then, Marissa would kiss her senseless. But the brunette would have probably given Alex a piece of her mind if Jodie hadn't beaten her to the punch.

* * *

It was already dark, and Alex was walking around at a small park that was a couple of blocks away from their room/basketball court. Anna had left a while ago, as she had a game to play. Actually, it was female football, and Alex was also on the team but she didn't feel like giving a repeat performance of the night before, as she was so sure she would. Alex was just glad that Anna didn't insist all that much for her to go too, the other girl seemed to understand that Alex wasn't feeling all that well. 

But it was about time that the others got back from the games and Alex had sinking feeling that not everyone would be as understanding as Anna.

"Alex, where have you been?"

"Here." Was the blonde's short response, one that Jodie didn't like one bit.

"Well, don't give me this smart ass remarks. You knew you had a game tonight. Actually, not one but two games." Actually, Alex had completely forgotten about the basketball game.

"I didn't see the point in me going. I would suck anyway."

"That's for me to decide. By the way we lost."

"Both games?"

"No, only the basketball one."

"Sorry"

"Don't tell me you are sorry. You should have been there."

"Why I wouldn't have played anyway."

"Look, I know what happened with Marissa and I know it sucked, but it was no reason to skip a game, you had to be there."

"Why? Are you gonna make me go? Oh, wait. You can't"

"I can't make you go, but I thought you were responsible enough not to leave your team. They needed the moral support, just like you needed it not so long ago to play your first soccer game, or did you forgot about that?"

"I just can't play"

"Fine, then go and sit at the bench. Let them know you are there. It helps. And if you want my advice, don't let that girl run your life"

"I don't think I need anyone's advices on how to live my life, and I have no idea what you're talking about." Alex said, thinking back to the reaction the girl had when Alex and Anna had been talking at the ice cream shop earlier.

"Marissa told me about what happened with the two of you."

"Look, nothing happened. I don't know what you are talking about"

"You two getting hot and heavy last night, ring any bells? Marissa told me"

"What do you mean she told you? She told me not to tell anyone."

"Really, she told you not to tell anyone? Then I guess I just have to share theses news with some of my friends."

"Please, don't"

"Alex, don't let her run your life. It's yours."

"I know, you've already said it. But please don't tell anyone, I can't deal with people knowing."

"Okay then. If you are the one that wants to keep it quiet, I will. But if I find out that you are just doing this to protect her, I'm telling everyone. You need to start making decisions for your own life"

"It's all me."

"Okay. Now, let's get back. Tomorrow you are going to all the games, even if it is just to watch."

"Fine."

"Good, by the way, you heard what happened to those people that beat you?"

"Not really"

"They spent the night in jail, a little worse for wear. I guess after you felt, we didn't feel like just like just letting them getting away with it, and gave them a little of their own medicine. Anyway, you need to press charges or they will walk"

"I don't want to, I just wanna forget that that day ever happened." Alex meant that in more ways than one.

"If you say so. Anyway Princeton will get some punishment for it. Maybe money, some games without anyone but the team watching, or even those girls being forbidden from ever playing on this league again."

"Good. Jodie, can I change with you?"

"Excuse me?"

"The sleeping bags. Apparently, my sleeping bag is next to Marissa's and I really don't feel like sleeping next to her."

"Sure, I guess I can do it."

"Thanks"

"By the way, she was asking if anyone had seen you earlier."

"Look I don't wanna talk about her or hear one sentense that mentions her right now, okay?"

"As you wish"

* * *

I know, not much Malex action on this one, but somethings gotta happen.

Hey, I just realized that we are almost done with the beginning of the story, i cant say how happy i am. But we still have a long way to go. I'll try write faster.

Please review.


	12. Don't Be Mad

Every year there is a competition between freshmen from different colleges, to make sure they get the school's spirit. Alex is a freshman, Marissa is the sophomore in charged of training the girls soccer team.

Don't own anything.

Thoughts are in italic.

Flashbacks are in bold.

AN: thanks to OCmalexfan, tines, Dee, malex4ever, ILUVU4870, shassy25, TheLyricsThatComposeXMyLifeX, bigblusky, krisana22, Kíssila, s3xy-Lady, drumstiix, Seventh Theory and acupinhand for the reviews.

Updating, people, updating. Well, if there is still anyone reading this... sorry, for the lack of updates, i'm really, really, really sorry. well, my only excuse is that life is a bitch... i've gotta say that i really missed writting this and that i've finally found some time to write again... slowly, but at least i'm writting... yay. but i'm not sure if i can update this regulary (not that it was one of my strong suits before), i'll do the best i can and all i can ask you is to bear with me... (remember: writting slowly)

Now, OCmalexfan and malex4ever dont worry, Alex will be able to open up in time... but she will do it on her on pace...

shassy25 and krisana22, Marissa will have a lot of making up to do... and she will do it... trust me...

Seventh Theory, it may be different because i'm relatively new to the OC section. although i've read fics for years now, i only started reading oc fics by the time i was already writting them, so i may write fics the way i was used to read them. different concepts and all. about the story, i kow u feel bad for both Marissa and Alex, but i must warn you, things will get worst before they get better.

Now, on with the story...

* * *

Chapter 12

Later that night, Marissa waited patiently for her daily dose of Alex. The part where Alex would fall asleep and Marissa would hold the blonde's hand until morning, where she would be able to gaze at Alex and hold her without the fear of getting caught.

Not tonight though. This night, it wouldn't be Alex who slept next to Marissa. Actually, it would be Jodie who took the blonde's place, probably the girl Marissa hated the most.

In Marissa's mind, Jodie was just a fucked up girl who thought she was better than everyone else, and treated people as such. At least that's how the Latino girl had always treated Marissa and her friends. Always with a know-it-all smirk and a dismissive attitude.

But what intrigued the brunette the most was that Jodie didn't treat everyone like that, there were some that she seemed to actually care about. Not only that, but Alex seemed to be one of those people. And that made Marissa wonder what had trigged the Latino's interest on the blonde.

* * *

That day Alex made sure to avoid Marissa at all costs. It wasn't that hard, she just had to blend in with the crowd and follow the flow of people going to a place to another. There wasn't a soccer game that day, which made things much easier to the blonde, but at the same time made things much harder, because deep down a part of Alex still wanted to catch a glimpse of the brunette.

And that's what saddened Alex the most. The fact that even though Marissa had said she didn't want her, Alex still couldn't get over her infatuation to the brunette. Because that's what it had to be: a stupid infatuation. Alex couldn't deal with it being anymore than that.

* * *

"Why are you being such a bitch today?" Ryan yelled

"Sorry, I can't really be rainbows and sunshine every single minute of every single day." Marissa yelled back.

"It isn't possible to be near you right now. Come find me when you get over whatever this is. You know this thing that's making you act like a bitch"

"Fuck you" He heard what she said, but ignored it as he walked away.

In truth, Marissa had been a really moody lately, by lately I mean the 3 days ever since Marissa and Alex talked, as if someone could call what they said to each other a conversation. Ever since that day, the brunette hadn't been able to touch or talk to the blonde, Marissa was left with nothing more than a few glimpses here and there when a flash of blonde hair appeared out of nowhere and disappeared not long after.

The brunette hadn't realized how much she needed Alex, not up to the moment that she couldn't see her anymore. Marissa missed the blonde, more than she could explain why. She even came up with an excuse to see Alex: the blonde's bandages needed changing, but was surprised when Anna, a freshman Marissa knew primarily from the soccer practices, told her that Marissa didn't need to do it, that Anna herself would take care of Alex.

It made Marissa wonder whether Alex told Anna that she didn't want Marissa near her, or if the girl had figured it out herself by the way Alex had been acting towards Marissa, but Marissa thought better about it and decided that Anna wouldn't take notice of the way Alex treated a girl that Anna barely ever spoke to, _would she? _

_But what if Alex told her what happened between us? She couldn't have done it, I told her not to. She wouldn't do it. But what about Jodie? She could tell people, she would have fun doing it._ But the brunette quickly dismissed the idea thinking that the Latino girl wouldn't have just told one person. No, she would have made sure that everyone knew and if that was the case Marissa would have heard about it by now.

Instead of thinking of what happened, Marissa decided to concentrate on what would happen that afternoon. There would be a soccer game and Marissa was supposed to take the soccer girls to lunch and afterwards to the game. Not that she was complaining, now she had a very good reason to stay in the blonde's presence.

* * *

Ever since Jodie yelled at her, Alex had taken the habit of showing up to the games, but she always refused to play, the blonde just stood at the bench, watching the others. She didn't feel like doing anything, she was tired and alone and she just wanted to crawl back home to her mother and have the older woman hold her until she wasn't afraid anymore.

Her mother had always been a little overprotective with her and it made Alex lean on her mother anytime things got a little too much for her to handle. It was good sometimes but most of the time Alex just got really angry that she couldn't take care of herself.

But this was one time she really wished that her mother would come and take her away, because she didn't feel like dealing with Marissa at that moment. At least Alex wouldn't have to talk to the brunette. She could simply talk to Laura instead.

Laura was the other sophomore in charge of training the girls soccer team. Marissa had merely taken a more active hole in training the girls, being a take-charge girl. For obvious reasons, Alex had all but ignored the other girl's existence until now, but the blonde now thanked whoever decided that the teams should be trained by two sophomores instead of one.

* * *

There were 6 cars to take the soccer girls to lunch: Marissa's, Laura's, Karen's, Jodie's, Kimberly's and Rachel's. All girls from Harvard's official female soccer team.

Alex made sure she wouldn't enter the wrong car, and where it says wrong it should be written Marissa's. That's was the only car the blonde wanted to avoid, and even if the brunette moved the girls around so Alex was left with no other choice but enter the car she didn't want, the blonde found a way to turn it back so she could ride with anyone else. That was done several times. Seeing what was happening, Jodie decided to intervene.

"Hey, Alex?"

"Yeah?" The blonde answered.

"Come on, you are riding with me."

"Hum? Okay?"

"But we just split the girls, Alex is going with me." Marissa answered.

"Well, I want her with me. You can take someone else that's in my car. Unless you have a specific reason as to why you want Alex riding with you" Jodie said that loud and clear so that everyone listened.

"No, none at all." In Marissa's mind, she was left without a choice, unless she wanted people start to suspect something. "Just send someone to my car"

In truth, people couldn't have cared less.

* * *

The restaurant that Karen had chosen was nearby to where the next game would be. It was a not large, but enough to fit the 30 hungry girls that arrived to eat. It had a casual atmosphere and the food was served in big plates that were to the tables so that everyone could help themselves to as much or as little as they wanted.

In order to fit everyone, they put together several tables, forming another one shaped as an L. The blonde sat in one end of the table, leaving only 1 seat next to her. Marissa wanted to sit next to or in front of Alex but was unable to do so as both of the blonde's Dobermans (Jodie and Anna) took that places. The brunette then decided to sit nearby, who knew what could happen.

All through the meal, Marissa kept trying to get Alex to look at her without much success, the blonde had her mind set on ignoring her. It was getting to the brunette in more ways than she wanted to admit, with that in mind she thought of a plan to get Alex to talk to her. The distance was making her crazy.

In truth, Marissa hadn't ever considered why she had this constant desire to be near Alex, but at the moment she just knew she had to and would do anything to make it happen. Marissa decided she could think about that later on when her thirst was satisfied and she would never have to feel this way again. Or so she hoped.

Seeing that it was her chance, Marissa got up and, as she passed the waiter that was carrying a tray full of dishes waiting to be delivered, she passed her foot in front of the poor man, making him trip and let the tray fall on the floor and allowing its contents to spill all over the closest person around: Alex.

"I'm so sorry." Marissa said both to the waiter and Alex. "I can't believe I'm this clumsy."

"No, it was all my fault. I'm sorry." The man replied, as he picked the broken dishes. Without looking up, he continued talking, this time to Alex. "Miss, if you want, we can get you a clean shirt in the back"

"No need. I think I'm just gonna head to the bathroom and clean up a bit." The blonde answered.

"I'll help you. Least I can do, after what I've just done." Marissa said.

Alex wanted to sit down and cry. _What am I supposed to say?_

"There is no need. It wasn't your fault." The blonde replied

"I insist" Marissa wasn't making this any easier for Alex.

_I can't believe it. After all the trouble I went through not to be alone with her._ The blonde thought.

"Ok."

* * *

Alex was first to enter the bathroom, with Marissa following close behind. The blonde took some paper from the toilets and wetted it to try to get most of the sauce from her shirt.

Marissa repeated Alex's actions, but instead of try to clean the blonde's shirt, the brunette settled to clean her pants. It made Alex feel torn, because she same time she longed for the other girl's touch, she also despised herself for being so weak. Also, it didn't help that Marissa was getting bolder and bolder and was getting closer to a very intimate area.

"Alex?"

"Hum?" The blonde responded, not really paying attention, as she was more concerned with the brunette's touch at the moment.

"How are you feeling?" That got Alex's attention.

"Better, I think. My torso almost doesn't hurt anymore." _Unless I run, or jump, or walk, or move or breath._

"That's good. But it wasn't what I was asking"

"I know"

"Please, don't be mad at me."

"What?"

"Don't be mad at me. Over what happened." Alex didn't answer, so Marissa continued "I think you are really great girl and I really like having you around and I hope you feel the same way and I wish you would stop avoiding me." Still the blonde gave no signs that she wanted to say anything. "Look, I really suck at this, as you can see, and I'm running out of things to say, and you are not helping, and I know it's my fault that you are still mad at me and I hope you can get over it. I mean I like to hang out with you and I think you are funny and nice and I know I never been particularly nice to you but I can be, I'm not a bitch and-"

"Marissa."

"Yes? Sorry, I was talking too much. I know. But you weren't saying anything I don't like uncomfortable silences so unless you start talking I'll continue to do so, 'cause well then there will be no silence and-"

"Marissa"_ How am I supposed to stay mad at someone as cute as that?_ The blonde thought.

"Sorry. Shutting up now"

"Okay."

"Okay? Okay what?"

"Okay. We can be friends." _I hope._ Alex thought.

"Good." That was what Marissa wanted, what she had asked for. The brunette thought back to what she had said and confirmed that what she had asked for was friendship. Then why was Marissa feeling so disappointed with the blonde's answer?

"Marissa?"

"Yes?"

"You know, my pants are as clean as they are going to be."

Sometime during her speech, Marissa's hands had stopped, but remained where they were, which consisted on the blonde's thigh. Blushing, Marissa quickly took them away.

"Sorry"

"That's fine. But truthfully, I think I'm as clean as I'm going to be, so why don't we just head out?"

"Alright."

After their encounter, Alex had to endure the curious stares of both Jodie and Anna, that were still sitting at the table, wondering what had happened that changed the blonde's mood for the better. Later that day, Marissa had the same problem with Summer.

* * *

The game wasn't difficult; they were winning 3X0, so Marissa was standing calmly behind the bench, where Alex and the other substitutes sat. Behind them, the bleacher was filled with people screaming their lungs out.

Cautiously to make sure no one noticed, Marissa stood behind Alex, and making sure her hand was hidden from view, she lightly caressed the blonde's back, making small circles at the curve of Alex neck. Unable to do otherwise, Alex leaned into her touch.

"Hey" The brunette said quietly from behind Alex, not moving from her spot or removing her hand.

"Hey" The blonde answered, trying to bit back a smile.

"Do you feel like playing?" Marissa asked in the same tone.

"Not sure if I should."

Alex had already realized that that her playing skills depended on her current mood, and after everything that happened during the day, she was in a very good mood. But at the same time, her wounds were very much real and they did really hurt. Besides confidence in herself wasn't a quality that Alex possessed.

"Not really a challenging game. How about we try it out?"

Alex knew her body would kill her later, but the blonde would do it anyway. She was powerless against Marissa's wishes.

"Ok"

Alex had known her body would hurt from the unnecessary exercise, but what she really hated was the fact that after they won, everyone decided to hug her mindless of her injures. And it hurt like hell.

* * *

Now, that was all. Hope u liked it. i know that its been a very (very, very, very...) long time since i last updated, and i am trully sorry. At least this chapter is a lot longer than most of the chapters i write, right?

Please Review.


	13. Happy New Year

Every year there is a competition between freshmen from different colleges, to make sure they get the school's spirit. Alex is a freshman, Marissa is the sophomore in charged of training the girls soccer team.

Don't own anything.

Thoughts are in italic.

Flashbacks are in bold.

AN: Thanks to pagey46, LillianGish, shassy25, TheLyricsThatComposeXMyLifeX, s3xy-Lady, krisana22, drumstiix  
for the reviews.

LillianGish, true, it is hard to imagine the girls playing any sports, specially Summer, i can just see it, she would scream just because she broke a nail ( maybe i should write that...). Alex, well i'm not sure why i wrote her like this, but i think the idea was to watch her grow as she has to deal with real life (i'm not sure you noticed but she is the main character of the story). There is still a lot to come but that's all i can tell you right now.

Everything is not exacly well with the girl, but we will see where that takes us. And about Jodie, she will be explained later (hopefully).

And well, i think i should say sorry for the lack of updates, it took longer to writte than i had planned mostly because i had some trouble writting Alex's parents, i have no idea why.

But i'm happy to inform that i just got 2 weeks off which means i can start moving my stories along. And not only that, i also have the time to read some, i can see that there are some really good new stories and updates, and i look foward to reading them.

Now, enough with me... lets get to the good part...

* * *

Chapter 13

In the end, female soccer got 3rd place, volleyball got 1st and so did handball. In the other sports, male included, Harvard managed to get good places and putting everything together they got first, which meant a very big trophy and mud war between everyone that stuck around to watch the finals.

Marissa made sure to stay for that even though she didn't need to, as female soccer wasn't one of the finals, just she would be able to cover Alex with mug thus having an excuse to touch the blonde without people becoming suspicious.

Frestion ended and people got back to their own homes. Homes as in their real homes, because each school had provided the students with one extra week before Christmas break so they could go to Frestion.

Alex went back to California, to Newport, where her family was waiting. Marissa also got back home, only her family lived in NY so it wasn't far at all.

* * *

"Alex!!" The older woman came running and enveloped the younger in a tight hug, and making her drop all her bags.

"Hi, mom" The hug was hurting Alex, it would already be too tight without her injuries; with it the hug was almost unbearable, still Alex didn't say anything.

Mrs. Kelly, or Judith Kelly, was a woman in her late 40's, a little taller than Alex, but not much. They both had blonde hair, but the older of the two had a more conservative air around her. One could see a mile away how alike mother and daughter were, actually, the only noticeable difference between the two women, beside the age, were the eyes, while Alex's were blue, Judith's were a light shade of brown, almost the same color of honey.

Looking at the older Kelly woman, someone could say for certain how Alex would become when she was older. The opposite was also true, looking at Alex, it was possible to tell how Judith had once been.

"I missed you so much, my little baby. It seems I haven't seen nor talked to you in so long"

"Mom, we talked everyday ever since I went to college" It was true, Alex had to call her mom whenever she got home, and if it happened to be a little later than normal Mrs. Kelly called her, just to make sure her daughter was fine.

"I know, but it is not the same, sweetie. And not nearly enough"

"I know mom, I missed you too"

"Good. Now, let's get you home, I am quite sure that there are someone else there that misses you too" The woman said as she led Alex out of the crowded airport with a hand on her waist, at the same time Gerard, the driver, picked Alex's bags up and carried them to the car.

* * *

Upon reaching the mansion, Alex was soon attacked by her huge sheepdog and tackled to the ground by his uncontrolled strength. Good thing, he started licking her all over, making it so that her laughter for being tricked hid her moans of pain.

"Told you, he missed you almost as much as me"

"I can see. Right, Bandit. Who's a good boy? You are. Good boy. Good boy." Alex said as she played with her almost 8-year-old friend. _It's good to be home._

"Come on, honey. Let's go to your room and get you settled down. Let me show some new things we got for you."

In truth, Alex had seen much difference in the house from the time she lived there. There was still an absurdly large gate, around an absurdly large garden and an absurdly large house.

The house had 3 floors: the first one had a very large kitchen with an island in the middle, which led to a dining room that was connected to a formal living room with fireplace, where there were the front and back entrance, stairs to the second floor and a door to the TV room.

The second floor had 5 regular (and regular means generously sized) bedrooms each with each its own bathroom and closet and an extra large master bedroom that had a private balcony with ocean views.

The third floor had a separate billiards room, a large family room with home entertainment center, there were also a "small" private library with a domed reading room and an executive office with wireless Internet throughout the house.

The house was mostly furnished with old pieces of furniture, demonstrating that the entire house was a family heirloom.

During summer, the Kelly's usually had their meals outside, in the garden, next to the swimming pool. The yard included a huge pool with volleyball net and separate Jacuzzi and waterfall. There were also an outdoor kitchen including oversized barbecue, sink, and refrigerator and an outdoor restroom/changing room complete with showers.

But once she got to her room, Alex understood what changes her mother had meant. What had once been a light pink bedroom was now a 3 wall dark blue and one white wall one. The bed, which Bandit had sprawled himself on as soon as the door opened, had been moved to stand against the said white wall, and was covered with a light yellow bedspread.

There was a new desk at the right side of the bed, with a new yellow laptop and a new yellow dog-shaped telephone, which you took the head and body to answer and left the back paws on the table.

Also, Judith had filled the room with balloons, posters with pictures of the younger blonde in the house with her family ever since she was a baby and a big white banner written in bold red letters **WELCOME BACK, ALEX**.

"Wow. That's… wow."

"So, did you like it?"

"I loved it, mom" Alex said as she hugged her mother.

"That's good. You have no idea how many times I changed it thinking you wouldn't like it."

"It's amazing, mom. I loved it." The younger girl said as she finely let go of her mother.

"Now, go take a shower. You must need it after so many hours of flight. Then pick on of the new clothes I bought you, so we can spend some time together before your father gets here. That way you can tell me all about the cute boys you met in college. Now, move it. The more time you take to get ready, the less I will hear about your adventures on the other side of the country."

"MOM!"

"What? I don't care, you are telling me everything. Now, I believe that I told you to take a shower" Mrs. Kelly said as she left the room.

Taking the time to appreciate her new room, Alex took a look around making sure she saw what new clothes her mother had been talking about. _Figures my mom would buy me an entire new wardrobe. _

* * *

Not long after Alex finished her shower both woman decided to enjoy each other's companies and Bandit's outside by the pool. The dog seemed not to be able to stay 3 ft away from his young owner.

It was cold, and Alex was glad that the weather allowed her to wear a long-sleeved shirt, making it possible for her to cover most of her injures, the others were hidden by make up. She would have to make sure her body was covered at all times, after all they were much better, but still enough for her mother to recognize it and if she did, Alex wouldn't be allowed to set foot on Harvard ever again.

They talked for hours, Alex did most of the talking, telling her mother stories about her life in Harvard, her friends, the training, and Frestion. Of course, the younger girl left some parts out, like the beating she had taken and the fact that she had made out with a girl.

In the middle of the story of one of their many victories, they heard a car pull up in the driveway and both girls got up and went to the front door to greet Mr. Kelly.

"Dad!!" Alex said as she hugged her father.

"Honey, hi. It's so good to see you back." Nicholas Kelly said as he lifted his daughter up hugging her and then put her back to the ground, as she stepped out of the embrace.

He was a middle age man in his early 50's, still it was possible to see that the man didn't seem old if not for the slight lack of hair in his forehead and center of his head and the presence of some white hair around his head. His eyes, well, his eyes were as blue as Alex's. The man wore a black suit with matching black pants and shoes and a red tie over the white shirt.

"You too, dad."

"So, tell me how do you like college?"

"I think I like it, but I miss you guys so much"

"Good, 'cause we really miss you too"

"Now, come on you two. Nick, go take a shower so we can have dinner, then Alex can tell you everything you want to know."

"Of course. Excuse me, I'll be right back."

* * *

Christmas came and went without much change in Kelly household. Grandma Devenpeck came and joined the three Kelly's in their family dinner. There was turkey, presents and many Christmas Carols. It was always the same.

Alex loved spending time with her grandmother even though the woman was a bit slow. Amelia Devenpeck could tell stories about great woman and unconditional love, stories that probably weren't even true. Either way, Alex loved to hear them.

But sooner rather than later Christmas went and it wasn't long before it was New Year's Eve, and there was a big party at the Kelly mansion. It was tradition: every year the Kelly's would throw a grand party, 200 guests in the least, inviting anyone worth knowing in California. Needless to say, it was filled with movie stars and rich people. And of course, Alex's presence was unquestionable.

Alex had to go to this party every year every since she could remember, and still she dreaded the arrival of this time of year. Mrs. Kelly always found the time to introduce Alex to all the nice boys in the party and try to hook her up with all of them.

Mr. Kelly, on the other hand, insisted on showing how brilliant and smart his daughter was and how she had grown in the space of a year to all of the elderly population in the party.

It all made the blonde feel like a Barbie doll, being pulled to one side to the other. And she hated every minute of it.

This year it would be no different. Like every year before that, Alex would have to wear a dress that her mom had already bought and then walk around the party, being the nice little girl that she was supposed to be.

And there she was, standing by the balcony, recovering from the latest guy her mother had tried introducing her to, taking the time to clear her head a little, as she took sips of her champagne. Underneath, she could see drunken men and women doing thing they would certainly deny to have done in the morning. People had a hard time in dancing around the pool without falling in it.

The party was being held on the ground floor of the house, and most people were concentrated outside of the house, as predicted. Right in the center, there was a DJ, making sure that no one stood still.

6 Feet to the right there was a big pool filled with clear water. 6 feet to the left, there was the bar, where drinks and only drinks were being served. The food was being served in a buffet inside the house.

Alex could see then all from the level above, she needed some time away from it all. Suddenly, her phone started ringing. Without even checking to see who it was, Alex just put it in her year, as she leaned against the railing, seeing that someone had started the countdown. The blonde felt no desire to join them and participate in what was, in her opinion, a complete waste of time.

"Hello?" The blonde answered without much interest.

"10"

"Heeellooooooooooooooo, Allll- Alllllexxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx?"

"9"

"Yes, who is it?" _Whoever it is, it is completely drunk._

"8"

"Ittt'sss meee" The voice was very familiar, but Alex was afraid to hope.

"7"

"Me who?"

"6"

"Meeeee!! Maarixxxxaa!!"

"5"

"Marissa. Hi." _Why is she calling me now?_

"4"

"Hi. There is this TV here where I'm now and they said they would start the countdown now in California." Marissa sounded almost sober as she said that.

"3"

"Yes. It's almost midnight" Alex mentioned

"2"

"Well, they say the way you spend new year's eve is the same way you'll spend the rest of the year" The brunette stated.

"1"

"Yes, they do"

"0" Countless fireworks started going off at the same time, along with people kissing and music blasting from the stereos.

"Happy New Year, then." Marissa continued, softly.

"Happy New Year" The blonde answered, with a smile.

And just like that, the brunette disconnected the call.

* * *

I know, i know, not much Malex, just something to show Alex's life. We will have some interesting developments next chapter, though.

Please Review.


	14. Valentine's Day

Every year there is a competition between freshmen from different colleges, to make sure they get the school's spirit. Alex is a freshman, Marissa is the sophomore in charged of training the girls soccer team.

Don't own anything.

Thoughts are in italic.

Flashbacks are in bold.

AN: Thanks to drumstiix, Seventh Theory, shassy25, WonderousPlaceForAnEcho, krisana22, not-here-leave-a-message for the reviews.

Sorry that i can comment on your reviews right now, i'm kinda in a hurry and i wanted to get this posted now because i'm not sure when i'd be able to do it if not today.

* * *

**Chapter 14 – Valentine's Day**

Christmas break ended and school was back for a little over a month now, and Alex still had to talk to Marissa. The blonde wasn't sure if she looked forward to it or dreaded it. Not after the brunette's call on New Year. _What was that about?_ Alex kept wondering.

The blonde had stopped going to the practices, as Frestion had ended and freshmen were 'free' to enjoy their time as they wished and Alex felt no desire, after what happened, to join a team. It also meant that the excuses to see Marissa didn't exist anymore. Not that the brunette had tried to contact Alex, at least as far as the blonde knew.

And Alex was fine with it, after all it was Marissa that had asked her to be friends, and if the brunette couldn't bother herself to make an effort, Alex wasn't about to go running after her. She wanted to forget her feelings, her crush on the brunette, she just had to.

The person that was looking for her was the one she didn't think would ever do that. Alex was surprised when she was told that Mark had been asking around for her.

The blonde was in no mood to talk to him. The only things she ever saw him talk about were practices, games, and the need to be on time. Mark probably just wanted to know why she hadn't gotten into any team.

That's the reason she had been avoiding him like crazy, but it seemed that she had run out of luck, as he had just spotted her going home and was making his way towards her. Knowing there was no point in trying to escape, Alex stopped walking and waited for him to catch up with her.

"Alex, hey." The Asian boy said, once she was in hearing distance.

"Hello, Mark. I heard you were looking for me. Is there any way I can help you?"

"Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about some things, but apparently you are very hard to find."

"I've just been busy, I guess."

"No, that's not it. I think you were avoiding me because you thought I was gonna drill you into practice."

"Yeah, kinda of" Alex at least had the decency to look ashamed as she answered that.

"You are partially right. But first, I wanted to ask you something else. What are you getting me tomorrow?"

"Why would I get you something?"

"You know, Valentine's Day."

"I wasn't aware that I had to get you something"

"Okay, maybe I was too subtle. Let me try again. Do you wanna go out on a date with me tomorrow?"

"Wow." _I didn't see that one coming._ The blonde thought. "Actually, I can't, I'm sorry. I'm kinda of seeing someone already." Alex didn't know why she had said that, but she didn't have much time to think about it.

"Of course you are. All the good ones are already taken."

"Sorry. But, you said you wanted to talk about something else"

"Yeah, that was one of the things I wanted to talk to you about. The other one was: do you remember a letter being delivered to the dean that almost got us expelled?" The boy said trying not to show that her rejection had gotten to him.

"Yes, but I don't see how it has anything to do with me. I didn't write it, I swear."

"I know, or at least I hope you didn't. That's not what I was implying. It's just that another one of those was delivered to the dean once we got back. It said that your injuries were caused by us, that we were the ones who hurt you."

"That's absurd. You guys saved me; I don't know where I would be if it had not been for you."

"Technically, we were supposed to protect you. No one should have been able to lay a hand on you. And I'm sorry they did, I'm sorry you got left alone. I'm sorry we got distracted. That should never have happened. But, you see, the dean is not very happy with us that it did happen."

"You want me to go there and tell him that you had nothing to do with that"

"Actually, no. We already told him the truth, and what was written on that letter can't be proved. But still, he is suspicious, especially because you seem to want to keep a certain distance from us."

"Where are you going with this?"

"I know you don't have to do this, but it would be a great help if you could, you know, join a team. Just so, you know, the dean can see that you are not against us."

"Join a team? I can't play, I suck"

"Trust me, that is not the case. I've already spoken to the coaches and they've agreed to let you in."

Alex felt guilty for already rejecting one of his proposals that day, so she did the only thing that seemed right for her. After all, how bad could it be?

"Okay."

"Okay?" Mark asked again, as if that was not the answer he had been expecting.

"Okay."

"Great. Here are the times and the places you will be training every week." Mark said handing her a paper. "Any questions you can ask Marissa if it's about soccer or Jodie if it's about basketball. Okay, bye"

"But when did I agree to train two sports? And who said I wanted to train soccer?" The blonde said to no one, because the boy was already out of hearing range, or pretended that he was.

* * *

The next day, Alex sat alone in her apartment; she had finally managed to get away from the Valentine's Day craziness. _Thank God._ She couldn't understand why all the girls found so important to be given a couple of roses and a teddy bear every year.

No, the blonde had every intention to take a warm shower, put on a comfy sleep wear, study a little, something she had neglected to do ever since she met a beautiful brunette, make herself something to eat and then she would hit the sacks.

That was her plan, and Alex was just about to jump in the shower when she heard a knock on the front door. Draping a towel around her body, the blonde proceed to see who it was. And the sight that welcomed her once she opened it took her breath away.

* * *

**Marissa was waiting. She had been waiting for almost 2 hours now. But no, Ryan had yet to show up at his own house. The brunette knew their relationship was hanging by a thread and she wanted them to spend a great Valentine's Day together.**

**Marissa had asked Summer to take Seth somewhere else, for them to sleep anywhere else so that Marissa and Ryan had the apartment all to themselves. The brunette had prepared (prepared as in bought) a romantic dinner, along with candles and flowers.**

**She even bought sexy lingerie. The day before, Summer had gone shopping with Marissa, and knowing about the couple's rocky situation, helped her friend pick out a black negligee.**

**Marissa knew that most people would think Ryan was the one that was supposed to play the good boyfriend and make the romantic dinner, but she knew better. Marissa knew that if she waited for Ryan to do it, she would die of old age first.**

**No, Marissa had everything prepared; he knew that, she asked him to come. All Ryan had to do was show up. And apparently, not even that he was able to do.**

**Deciding she had had enough, the brunette decided to call her boyfriend. The phone rang at least 7 times before he answered.**

**"Hi, baby."**

**"Ryan, where are you?" Marissa went straight to the point, she was tired and angry. The brunette was getting to the point where she didn't know why she still bothered.**

**"I'm at work, hun. Why? Is there a problem?"**

**"Actually, yeah. It's Valentine's Day, I told I had something special planned and that you needed to be here on time."**

**"Sorry, baby. I completely forgot. I don't think I can get out anytime soon, I was thinking on crashing on a couch here"**

**"Ryan, it's Valentine's day. Who spends Valentine's day at work?"**

**_Certainly not me. _Ryan thought with a smirk, but instead he answered. "It's just I have so many things to do. I'm completely swamp-"**

**"You know what? I don't care. No need to come anymore!" In her fury at her boyfriend, Marissa threw the phone on the floor and left, slamming the door shut behind her.**

**In the hallway, the brunette had time to realize a few things. One, she was only wearing a negligee. Two, she didn't have her car keys, phone or her purse with her. Three, the door to Ryan's apartment was one of those which once closed you couldn't open it from the outside without a key, even if it wasn't looked, and said key was left inside.**

**_Shit! What am I gonna do? I can't just be seen like this. Shit! Shit! Shit!_ Trying to calm herself, Marissa took a deep breath. _Calm down, Marissa. There's gotta be a solution, you just haven't thought of it yet._**

**The brunette then remembered something Summer had told her a few weeks before. Marissa's best friend had informed her that Alex lived on the same building as the boys, a few floors below. _It's much better than me walking around almost naked, even if things may be a little weird between us. _Summer had even mentioned the apartment, now if Marissa could only remember it.**

**Going down the stairs, Marissa didn't want to use the elevator because it had video cameras, she found 4 doors to 4 different apartments on Alex's floor. The brunette still hadn't been able to remember Alex's apartment number. _There's a 25 chance I get it right the first time. Better than standing out here like this._**

**Knocking on the first door to the right, Marissa waited nervously for it to be opened. A short fat man in his late 50's did it and the brunette hugged herself trying to cover herself best as she could, as he seemed to have just being given his late Christmas present.**

**"Hi, is there anyway Alex Kelly lives here?"**

**"Actually, yes. I'm Alex Kelly. How may I help you?" The man responded staring at her breasts.**

**"Nigel, who is it?" Came a female voice from inside**

**"I'm not sure, honey" The man answered, as a head made itself known behind him, making Nigel snap out of it.**

**"Who are you?" The woman asked in a somewhat rude manner.**

**"I'm sorry. It was a mistake, wrong apartment." Marissa apologized.**

**The brunette had barely finished her sentence when the door was slammed in her face. _Alright, can't believe she didn't get the nicest person on Earth award. Moving on, Marissa. One down, 3 to go. That's 33 now. On the bright side, my chances are getting better._**

**Marissa knocked on the door closer to her and waited until an old lady narrowly opened it, making sure that the entrance to her apartment was completely blocked by her body.**

**"Yes?" The woman said._ Well at least she doesn't look like she wants to eat me. That's always a plus._ The brunette thought as she felt slightly better.**

**"Hello, I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm looking for Alex, Alex Kelly. She doesn't happen to be in your house , does she?"**

**"No, I'm sorry. But I'm the only one here. Me and those evil men of course"**

**"Evil men?" The brunette repeated**

**"Yes, they are all around planning to kill me. I can hear them at night, talking about it. They poisoned my food once, good thing I heard them before I ate. I threw all the food away. Yes, yes. Now I'm not as careless anymore. You shouldn't be either, who knows who will they try to kill next?"**

**"Riiiight. Sorry for the inconvenience." Marissa said as she prepared to try the next door. _Well it's 50/50 now._ The brunette thought as she walked to the next door.**

**"You might wanna try that one." The old lady pointed to the other door before closing hers.**

**Making her away to the door the woman had pointed to, Marissa felt nervous. She felt butterflies dancing around in her stomach; the brunette had never felt that before, she didn't know how to deal with it. So, instead she tried to get forget the felling and knock on the door.**

* * *

Alex opened the door and came to face something she never thought she would see. _Oh My God, Marissa! You'll be the death of me._

Marissa wasn't coping much better either, after all Alex was only covered by a towel. The brunette instantly had flashbacks of the last time she had seen Alex and a towel, and she had to hold herself not to do exactly what she had done at the time. Finding a spot behind the blonde's head to focus on, the brunette started the conversation.

"Alex, hi." Marissa's voice snapped Alex out of whatever trance she was in.

"Hi" Alex's wasn't exactly in any position to think any more than that as a response: there was an almost naked Marissa in front of her.

"I don't wanna intrude or anything, but can I come in? It's weird standing like this outside"

"Mmm, Sure! I'm sorry. I should've- I'm sorry. I didn't-" Alex response was a little louder than needed "Just sorry. Come on in" The blonde finished, opening the door wider so that Marissa could enter.

_Don't look down! Don't look down! DO NOT STARE AT HER ASS!!_ Alex was really trying to control herself, but she wasn't having much success and she had caught a glimpse or two of the brunette's bottom.

"Can I sit down? I promise I'll explain you why I'm here." Marissa said, and then completed as if she had forgotten. "LIKE THIS! Why I'm here like this."

"Sure. Sit. I'm sorry. Sit down." Alex apologized, not daring to look Marissa in the face, she was afraid the brunette could tell what she had been doing moments before.

"Are you gonna say sorry every time I ask for something? I'm gonna feel guilty" The brunette said, doing the exact thing she had just received permission to do.

"Sorry." Alex replied in a playful tone, which was rewarded with a smile by Marissa. The blonde remained standing.

"You must be wondering what I'm doing here like."

"It's okay if you don't wanna tell me. It's none my business."

"I think you should know, it's only fair after I show up unannounced on your doorstep without anything but lingerie on Valentine's Day."

"Okay, if you say so"

"Well, long story short, I had a date, I got stud up, I got mad and I ended up locking myself out like this. Summer told me you lived nearby; I was wondering if you could give me a hand on the name of our new found friendship?"

"I think I can do that. You may need some clothes, right? Stay here and I'll find you something to wear" Alex said happy to have an excuse to leave the room.

Marissa took the moment to look around, but there wasn't much she could see. There was the front door that led to the living room that had a couch, which was where she sat, and 2 reclining armchairs, a small coffee table in the middle and a plasma TV.

On the way in, the brunette had passed an opening that led to what Marissa thought to be the kitchen, as she had seen a sink and a refrigerator. The rest of the apartment was a mystery to the brunette: all she could see was a long corridor where Alex had disappeared into.

Moments later, Alex reappeared, fully clothed and with an extra pair of jeans, a shirt and a matching set of panties and braw for Marissa.

"You can change in the bathroom. It's the second door on the left. There are towels on bathroom cabinet. You can take a shower to if you feel like it. Not that you need one." Alex was quick to explain, she didn't want Marissa to get the wrong idea "Just, you know, if you wanna take a shower, I'm just saying you can. But if don't want to that's fine too, you don't need to take a shower. Actually, I don't see why you would need to, you smell kinda nice. Not that I was sniffing you or anything, I'm just saying that you don't stink. Okay, I'm shutting up now." The blonde said standing near the TV.

_Just keep your mouth shut for few more minutes that she'll have some clothes on, and then thinking things to say will be much easier. Hopefully. _Alex thought

"Okay, thanks. I think I might take the shower though. Unless you want to. I think you were about to take one, right?"

"Don't worry about it. Help yourself with the shower if you want to"

"Alright. Thank you" Marissa said as she stood up, took the clothes from the blonde and walked to where Alex had told her the bathroom was.

Leaning against the door, Marissa took a moment to calm herself. It had taken too much energy standing almost naked in a room with the almost naked object of her dreams alone and not doing any and every single fantasy the brunette could think of. Instead, Marissa had behaved and acted as if nothing was wrong and she didn't want to take Alex right there in the middle of the living room.

That was a side of her the brunette didn't know she had. Marissa had never felt the need to have sex; she just accepted it, like everyone expected her too. Like any girlfriend was supposed to have sex with her boyfriend. But Marissa never felt the desire for it, never felt the need to rip someone's clothes out and just have her way with them.

And that feeling both scared and excited her.

* * *

Alex was nervous. She didn't know what she was supposed to be doing. There was a hot girl in her bathroom, probably naked, taking a shower and all she could think about was to get inside and satisfy her most intimate desires.

It was too much for Alex to process: her feelings towards the brunette girl, making out in Frestion, the call on New Year, the fact that the other girl had a boyfriend, the questions about her own sexuality, well, both girls' sexuality, actually. The blonde didn't know how to deal with it all.

So, she paced. Alex had tried to watch TV to take her mind off of things, but it hadn't made much effect, so the blonde started pacing in the middle of the living room and hadn't been able to stop ever since.

That's how Marissa found her, once she got out of the bathroom: passing around next to the turned on TV.

"Something wrong, Alex?"

"No, nothing"

"Then why were you pacing around like that?"

"Just thinking. I do this when I wanna clear my head."

Mark, can I say something?

Yeah.

I know you're Peter's best friend and I know you've never particularly warmed to me. Look, don't, don't argue. We've never got friendly. But I wanted to say, I hope that can change. I'm nice. I really am. Apart from my terrible taste in pie and... It would be great if we could be friends.

Absolutely. Absolutely.

Great.

Doesn't mean we'll be able to find the video, though. I had a real search when you first called and couldn't find it so...

This one says "Peter and Juliet's Wedding". Do you think we might be on the right track?

Er, yeah, well... Wow. That-that could be it.

Do you mind if I...?

I've probably taped over it. Almost everything's episodes of West Wing.

"Is that Love Actually?" Marissa asked pointing to the TV.

"I'm not sure. Why? Do you like it?"

"Are you kidding me? I absolutely love it" The brunette said as she sat down to watch the movie, and then pulled Alex to sit beside her. "Come here, watch this."

Thank you so much, Mark, this is exactly what I was hoping for. I look quite pretty. You've stayed rather close. They're all of me.

Yeah. Yeah. Yes.

But... you never talk to me. You always talk to Peter. You don't like me.

I hope it's useful. Don't show it around too much. Needs a bit of editing. Look, I've got to get to a... lunch. Early lunch. You can just show yourself out, can't you? It's a... self-preservation thing, you see.

Instead of letting go once the blonde was seated, Marissa wrapped her arms around Alex's waist and laid her head around the other girl's shoulder. She knew the blonde was uncomfortable, as her body was tense, but soon Alex relaxed, leaning against Marissa and letting herself be held.

Not too long after, the movie ended, and Alex got up.

"Stay there, I'm gonna make us some popcorn" The blonde said, as Marissa made a move to get up too.

"Okay." The brunette replied, making herself comfortable by laying down on the couch as she watched Alex's hips move to the kitchen.

Once Alex got back to the living room, Marissa never questioned that the other girl would do any other thing, and just pulled the blonde down to lie next to her, with Marissa spooning her from behind.

"What are we watching now?" Alex asked

"Notting Hill. Do you like it?" Marissa replied, with her lips close to the other girl's earlobe

"I've- I've never watched it."

"What? How come?"

"Not sure. I guess I was never much into the romance, the Valentine's Day thing."

"Well, I happen to think this Valentine's Day was very nice." Marissa stated, as she held Alex a little tighter.

"Me too" Alex replied snuggling back against Marissa.

The rest of the night was spent eating popcorn and watching the same romantic movies that were on on every Valentine's Day, until they drifted off to sleep in each other's arms.

* * *

That was it. Hope you liked it. The next chapter was supposed to be the ending of this one, but it was already too long (its 3 times what i usually write)

Please Review.


	15. Want, Take, Have

Every year there is a competition between freshmen from different colleges, to make sure they get the school's spirit. Alex is a freshman, Marissa is the sophomore in charged of training the girls soccer team.

Don't own anything.

Thoughts are in italic.

Flashbacks are in bold.

AN: thanks to bigblusky, orgy123, kills70, WonderousPlaceForAnEcho, drumstiix, Seventh Theory, vinniegurl11 and Kissila for the reviews. Also thanks again to andygirl007 for helping out with the chapter.

kills70, drumstiix, i only realized that there were two Marks in this story when i read your freaview...sorry.... let me clear this out for u. The first Mark, the one that asked Alex out, is the one that showed up in another chapters, the one that is in charge in making sure that the freshman get to practices. The second one, the underlinded one, is from the movie love actually. Actually the whole underlined part was a dialog i took from that movie, just something to show what Alex and Marissa were watching.

Kissila, here is the next part.... finallyf

* * *

**Chapter 15 – Want, Take, Have**

Marissa was walking around the corridors of Harvard. She was done for the day, the only thing she had to do was wait around for the time where she had to go to her soccer practice later that afternoon and then go home. Although she was tired, the brunette couldn't complain one bit about it.

The night before, Valentine's day, she and Alex had stayed up late watching romantic movies together and then fell asleep holding each other on the couch. Besides the morning after was somewhat interesting.

* * *

**The next morning, there was not much time to talk about the night before. Alex's alarm had gone off in her bedroom, and obviously neither girl had heard it; sometime later, Alex had woken up trapped by Marissa's arms. The blonde felt no desire to move and had every intention to stay exactly where she was, but inadvertently she took a quick look at the clock hanging in the wall behind Marissa and jumped back.**

**The only problem with that was that she wasn't on her bed, which meant she ended up falling flat in her ass on the floor and bringing Marissa down with her.**

**"Ouch!" The brunette said, on top of Alex. "If you wanted to wake me up, there were better ways to do it."f**

**"Sorry. I just-"**

**"That's okay."Marissa said, hovering above the blonde. "I like where I am now."**

**The brunette's hair was brushing Alex's face, her eyes were locked on the younger girl's lips and Marissa's face was inches way from Alex's.**

**"Marissa?"**

**"Yeah?" The brunette responded, her nose grazing the blonde's.**

**"We-" Alex was having a hard time forming words.**

**"Yes?"**

**"We are late" The blonde said, pushing Marissa off of her and getting up. "I'll get some clothes for you."**

**Marissa just sat there, stunned, mouth hanging open, wondering how she had gone from walking around almost naked to waking up on top of Alex and then to being thrown off of the blonde in less than 12 hours.**

* * *

**Alex took her time in getting ready, in spite of her earlier protest against their lateness. She didn't think she could deal with Marissa, the blonde didn't know how. First the brunette was nice to her, then they were grouping each other in the bathroom, then Marissa decided she didn't want it, then they were back to being friends and then Marissa was practically eating Alex with her eyes.**

**That was too confusing, the brunette was taking Alex in a Roller Coaster ride and the blonde was starting to get sick of it.**

**In the meantime, Marissa found Alex's cell and sent a message to Ryan, telling him that her things were at his house, and that she would drop by later to get it, signing it to let him know whom he was talking to.**

**Once Alex returned, ready to go, Marissa found herself once again at the bathroom changing into the blonde's clothes.**

**Alex spent the time Marissa took to get ready trying to prepare something for breakfast. Usually, she would only get herself a coffee somewhere, she was too lazy to do otherwise, but good manners told her that guests deserved breakfast.**

**And, as a result, the blonde found some egg and bacon that she tried not to burn. Just as she had finished, wondering how Marissa could take so much time to get ready, her phone started to ring, indicating that she had a new text message.**

**Checking it, Alex was surprised to find out that it was from Ryan. He had given her his number during Freshion, in case she needed some help, but she had never used it. Curiously, Alex opened it, and began to read.**

**'Okay, Riss. I'll see u later then. Hope I can make up for last night.'**

**The blonde never showed the message to Marissa. She didn't eat the breakfast that she herself had made. Alex claimed that she didn't eat breakfast.**

* * *

This need was not something that Marissa was expecting, it wasn't like anything she had ever felt. She needed Alex, and she needed her now. That's why when Marissa found the blonde walking down the hallways, she didn't even hesitate in grabbing her hand and dragging her across the campus.

Alex was shocked to say the least. She had been leaving her last class, thinking about a certain brunette we all know when out of nowhere said brunette was taking her to somewhere unknown. But the blonde didn't have to wait much, because as soon as Marissa found a hidden broom closet, she shoved Alex inside, getting in with her and locking the door.

Not giving the blonde time to recover, Marissa grabbed her and pulled the girls together. The brunette didn't look at Alex while she crashed their bodies together. Some brooms fell to the floor, others were held up by the blonde's body, but that didn't stop Marissa. She needed Alex and she would have the blonde in that instant.

Marissa kissed Alex with all she had, not holding back. The brunette, then, went down to the blonde's neck, sucking on Alex's pulse point, making the other girl moan. Marissa's hands were everywhere, touching, caressing, making the blonde feel things she had never felt before. Alex couldn't fight back; she just closed her eyes and gave up.

* * *

"I think I'm gonna walk with you" Jodie said, coming out of nowhere.

"Thanks, but I think I'm gonna walk home alone." Alex replied, in her own world.

"You are not going home now. We have soccer practice, remember?" The Latino girl didn't wait for an answer and just grabbed Alex. "Now, come on"

_What's with people grabbing me today?_ The blonde thought, but let herself be dragged anyway.

Jodie started to lead them to the field, finally letting go of Alex's wrist once she was sure the other girl wouldn't turn the other way. After a while, the Latino girl got tired of being the only one trying to start and maintain a conversation.

"So, what happened?"

"What happened with what?"

"You are quiet."f

"I am quiet."

"You are quieter than normal, and you keep staring at your feet"

"It's- It's nothing"

"And if I still had any doubts that something had happened, you just erased it"

"I'm…"

"You can tell me if you want. I promise I won't tell anyone. But if you prefer to keep it to yourself, I'll understand it too."

"I- I just lost my virginity" Alex needn't tell with who, they both knew it very well.

"I'd congratulate you, but by the way you just said it, I have a feeling that's not a good thing."

"I just lost my virginity in a broom closet."

"You mean, you just lost your virginity to a broom?" Jodie said mockingly

"Stop it, it's not funny." Alex said looking up. "I know this is silly, that I'm being childish. It's not like I was saving myself for marriage or anything, or that I wanted candles and rose pedals. I just never thought it would happen in a broom closet."

"You wanted it to be right." Jodie said, looking at Alex. "And that's not childish"

"Thanks" The blonde replied.

"You know, it will get better" Jodie informed Alex, as they approached the field. "But it will get worse first" The Latino said to herself, not aware that the blonde had heard it.

* * *

"Hey, Coop"

"Hi, Summs" Marissa replied, watching Alex walk away with Jodie

"So, how did it go last night?"

"What?!?!?" _How does she know about it? Did Alex tell anyone? Everyone?_

"You know, you, Ryan, romantic dinner, Valentine's Day? Hello!!! Are you in there Marissa?"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, I'm just tired, I guess."

"That good, huh?"

"That bad. He didn't even show up." Marissa didn't think it was a problem to reveal this piece of information; she just had to be careful not to talk about the rest of the night, or the following day.

"I'm sorry."

"It wasn't your fault. You helped with pretty much everything. But he couldn't get out of work."

"It sucks" Summer didn't quite believe that not-getting-out-of-work part, but she wasn't sure Marissa would want to talk about it, specially not right now. "Marissa, do you mind if I asked you a question?"

"Not really, but can we do it while we walk? Otherwise I'll be late for practice."

"Okay" The smaller girl said as they started walking

"Why are you still with Ryan?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"I didn't mean to offend you. I was just wondering how long can a relationship survive without one or two people wanting to be in it."

_I'm starting to think I'm not that far away from the answer._ But the reply she gave was a different one.

"Summer, me and Ryan are fine."

"Sorry, I was just wondering."

"Wondering about what? There seems to be much more in your head than just that these days."

"What do you think of Karen?"

"Karen as in?"

"The one on the soccer team with you. The gay Karen."

"Summer, I really don't know what's gotten into you today." Marissa said defensively.

"Marissa, calm down. It's just a question. I just wanted to know how you felt about it."

"Summ, I haven't really thought about it. It's her problem, not mine." The brunette said practically running away.

With a deep breath, Summer followed Marissa, letting the other girl walk ahead of her. She sat down at the benches, watching as the field filled with girls ready to start their practice. She watched the female soccer practice more times than she wanted, but Summer knew she had a lot on her mind and watching it made her reflect on what was happening around her.

* * *

"Alex, it's good to see you here. I was hoping Mark could convince you to come." Karen said, as Alex joined her and some other girls on the field.

"Yeah, it's hard to say no to him." The blonde answered.

"So, have you met everyone?" The girl continued

"Sorry" Alex replied shaking her head no "I know I have been introduced to all of you at some point, but I can't remember all of your names."

"So, let's do this again. Everyone this is Alex. Alex, this is Cindy, you already know Jodie, Madison, Rachel, Lisa, Allison, and I'm Karen. The others you can meet later, they are probably still changing." The introductions were followed by a wave of 'hi's and 'hello's.

"You, I remember, Karen. I dedicated a goal to you."

"True. See how important I am" The girl said to the other's.

"Stop showing off, Karen. You're not all that." The girl that had been introduced as Lisa said, teasingly.

"Oh, is that what you think?" The other girl said, grabbing a bottle of water and squeezing it. Karen missed, and the water didn't hit Lisa as she had intended, it went straight to Cindy that grabbed another bottle and started squeezing it in all directions.

Soon, all of the girls were wet holding water bottles on their hand. Some sort of truce had been drawn, and all of them stood in a circle with a safe distance to the other.

"Everyone" Allison said drawing the attention. "The way I see it, Alex is the one responsible for starting the whole thing, so I say we make her pay for it and let this rest in peace." She finished with a smile.

All of them had smiles on their faces as they yelled "Agreed" and ran to Alex.

Madison and Rachel took hold of each of Alex's arms, not allowing her to run. In the meantime, Karen walked up to her and put the top of her bottle inside Alex's shirt and squeezed. All of them were still smiling.

"You know what you have to say to get out of here." Karen told her, discarding the now empty bottle and grabbing another.

"You are all that." Alex replied.

"I don't think anyone heard that, Alex. I certainly didn't." Karen continued.

"You are all that" Alex repeated, this time almost yelling.

"I knew you would see things my way." The girl said as she took the bottle of water from under the blonde's shirt and put an arm around her shoulder, leading Alex to the coach that seemed to want to start the soccer practice.

What Alex hadn't realized was that Marissa had just gotten out of the locker room and had seen the ending. The brunette didn't like it one bit.

* * *

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" Marissa said pushing Jodie.

"With me, nothing. I think the problems are fall yours." Jodie replied pushing back.

"That's enough, girls. Break it up."

"But, coach, that's the third time she deliberately tries to hurt me today"

"That's called fighting for the ball, princess, if you can't take it, I'm not sure you are in the right place."

"You are bitch"

"And you are just a scared little girl, afraid people will see you for who you are."

"Shut up! You know nothing about me! The only thing you think about is how to treat people like dirt! You don't care for anyone but yourself!"

"Me? You! You and your friends are the ones that take whatever you want with no consideration to other's people's feelings!" Jodie said that with so much venom that it startled Marissa, making her wonder where that had come from.

"Hey! Jodie! Marissa! I said that's enough!" The coach interfered again, before the brunette was able to retort. "Both of you play nice with each other or you are done for the day. I will not have you two girls ruining my practice over boys."

That made Marissa lower her head and Jodie let out a snort as she replied. "Yes, because BOYS would be the only reason we would fight about, right Marissa? That's the only thing we do." Making the brunette look back up in surprise.

"I don't care why you are fighting, as long as you do it outside my field. Got it?" The two girls just nodded. "Great! Now let's go people. We've already lost too much time. Come on."

* * *

"You told her?" Marissa could barely contain her anger.

"What?" Alex stopped walking back to her place and turned to Marissa.

"You told Jodie what happened." Marissa said pulling the blonde to a more deserted area, still angry.

"I never mentioned your name."

"And how did she figure out it was me?" Marissa was having trouble keeping her voice low, which was making Alex lose her patience too.

"I don't know, might have something to do with what you told her the first time anything happened between us." It was the first time Alex replied in that tone.

"Don't tell anyone else." The brunette said, as she pushed the blonde against the wall.

"It's not like I was planning on it." Alex's body was trapped by Marissa's.

"Good" The brunette said, just before she kissed Alex forcefully.

* * *

And that's it. hope u liked it. i guess i'll see u again in a couple of mouths.... seriouly, i'm on vacation in january, hopefully i'll have the time to get this story going....


	16. The Morning After

Every year there is a competition between freshmen from different colleges, to make sure they get the school's spirit. Alex is a freshman, Marissa is the sophomore in charged of training the girls soccer team.

Don't own anything.

Thoughts are in italic.

Flashbacks are in bold.

AN: First let me say that I am really sorry I haven't updated this in almost an year. I can't believe that it has been this long. I won't bore you with all the reasons to why I couldn't update regularly. But at the end of last year I was able to get a few chapters done, unfortunately my laptop broke down and it took about 60 days for me to get it back. Apparently all the chapters survived. Lol.

I have a few chapters done, and I'll update them once every two weeks, give or take a couple days. This way I can keep them coming, and hopefully that will provide me with enough time to write new ones.

Now, thanks to Seventh Theory, not-here-leave-a-message, WonderousPlaceForAnEcho, bigblusky, shassy25, drumstiix, destar, youarethegirl, Peopleareamusing, LiveForTheMusic and Manya91 for the reviews. I really am sorry for making you wait so long.

Seventh Theory, in that case I hope you don't mind that she plays a bigger part in this story. Soon.

To everyone who asked, Marissa is just scared, but she will step up at the end. I am a sucker for happy endings…

But after all this time away from my fics, and reading them all again (along with your reviews) I think that I make Marissa too much of the bad guy, huh, girl. I guess it's because I'm still bitter over her letting Alex leave in the OC. Lol. I'll make her nicer on my next fic. Not anytime soon though, don't worry. I'll finish this first.

Youarethegirl, really liked you comments. I think you picked my favorite scenes as well. On Alex, let's just say that she is growing up.

WonderousPlaceForAnEcho and Youarethegirl thanks for correcting the words. I read it more than once, but there is always something that I don't see. Hopefully now, it's all good. But let me know if you see another mistake.

BTW, does anyone know what happened to the Malex forum on invisionfree? I was looking for it, but I can't find it.

Okay, now enough of this boring stuff, and let's get to the story. Hopefully there is still someone reading.

* * *

Chapter 16 – The Morning After

Much to her surprise in the next morning, Alex woke up on her on bed, with the alarm clock ringing like crazy. But what stunned her the most was the body that she found lying next to her. It took Alex a moment to let the memories of the night before enter her mind, and she was shocked with the strange turn of events.

If someone told Alex 24 hours earlier that she would have sex with Marissa Cooper in a broom closet and in the same day make out with her in a dark alley, only to rush back to Alex's apartment, and continue on couch what they had been doing, the blonde would tell them they were crazy. However, there she was, lying in bed with the girl of her dreams, after an unforgettable night of sex.

The blonde-haired woman didn't remember how they ended up in the bed, she just figured Marissa had somehow taken them there during the night.

"Could you turn that off please?" The brunette mumbled in a sleepy voice, not moving from her position underneath Alex.

"Yeah, sorry." Alex answered, reaching for the alarm clock.

"Do you have class now?" Marissa muttered, without opening her eyes.

"Yeah, in half an hour. I should take a shower."

"Okay." This time Marissa did move. She turned around to give Alex a kiss. The kiss was sweet, not demanding and ruthless like the ones from the night before had been.

Alex wanted to ask Marissa to join her, but she didn't have the courage to. _Besides she didn't have any problems expressing her desires last night, if Marissa wanted to join me in the shower she would say so._

"I would offer to join you, but I don't think you would want to miss your class." The brunette had noticed how Alex's grades were dropping, Marissa was more aware of what happened in the blonde's life than she cared to admit. She just couldn't figure out why Alex was having so much problem with her grades when Marissa knew the girl was one of the brightest people she ever met. Either way, Marissa didn't think that it would be a good idea to make the blonde miss more classes at this point. "Remember not to use all the hot water."

"Okay." _Did I just wake up in the Twilight Zone? Is this really happening?_

Once Alex got out of the shower, Marissa wasn't on the blonde's bed anymore. _Should I be surprised?_ Grabbing the first clothes she found in her closet, Alex put them on and rushed out, very much aware that she was seriously close to being late.

But before the blonde walked out of the door, she noticed Marissa making a mess out of her kitchen.

"Marissa?" Alex said surprised, she had figured Marissa would have been halfway to Timbuktu by now.

"Hey, Alex. I know you don't eat breakfast, but I was kinda of hungry seeing as we didn't eat anything last night" _Not any food, at least._ "I was trying to cook something, hope you don't mind." The brunette explained, leaning against a counter.

"No, go ahead. Make yourself at home." There was something that Alex needed to be doing or rather, somewhere that she should be going, but for the life of her, the blonde couldn't remember where, or why. Not with Marissa standing in her kitchen in only an old t-shirt. _Looking good enough to eat._

"Thanks. I know I'm not much of a cook, but I promise I'll clean everything up later." Marissa passed her hands through her hair, she needed to do something with them, she needed to be distracted. The brunette had seen the way Alex was looking at her, and took all her self control not to jump Alex.

"Okay." Still the blonde didn't move from her spot.

"Also, could I borrow some of your clothes? I know I have borrowed more than enough clothes, including this one" Marissa said pointing to the one she was wearing, she had found it by the bed. It wasn't the best idea to tempt an already tempted Alex, whose eyes were now glued to where Marissa was pointing. "that you knew nothing about. But I promise that I will give them back to you later all clean."

"Sure, no problem. Take whatever you want from the closet." Alex replied in instinct, she had no idea what she had just said.

"Thanks. And can I stay here for a while? I don't have classes until later"

"Sure, no problem. Stay for as long as you want." The blonde answered still not moving from her spot. "There is a key by the counter, just leave it under the mat outside the door when you leave."

"Thanks, but shouldn't you be getting to your class?" Marissa urged Alex, their self-control was fading fast, and she knew that if the blonde didn't leave soon, Alex never would.

"Shit!" Was the blonde-haired woman's only answer as she looked at the clock and started to run.

Marissa took her time in making and eating her breakfast, that being two pieces of burned toasts with some butter. The brunette couldn't find anything ready to eat and that was as far as her cooking skills went. Besides she figured that she would burn all the carbs during her practices.

After that Marissa cleaned the mess she had made in the kitchen, and picked her clothes up from the living room floor, Alex had thrown them around the night before in her hastiness to get them off of the brunette.

Next the brunette decided to take a much needed shower, seeing as she felt sticky from the previous night's activities. Finishing it, Marissa made her way into the blonde's closet. She wasn't sure what to expect, Marissa knew Alex only wore branded clothes, but the brunette had never been inside the other girl's closet. Marissa wasn't sure if she should be surprised or not, but there were only girly clothes, mostly pink with some kind of animal, rainbows or stars.

After looking around for a bit, she found a more neutral choice of clothes and put them on, realizing that there wasn't much more for her to do, she decided to explore the house.

All colors were plain, and there was nothing in the apartment that could be described as Alex's, something that actually showed her personality. The closest thing to it was some pictures she found of Alex and what the brunette supposed that were the blonde's family on the refrigerator's door and on the desk in the living room, but even then Marissa wouldn't say that it screamed Alex.

Bored out of her mind, not finding anything on the TV and figuring that no one would be on the net this early in the morning, Marissa decided to do what she feared and went to Ryan's apartment, hoping and dreading that he would be there.

Knocking on his door, she waited for a while until the man answered it, opening it slightly, just enough to allow Marissa to see him.

"Marissa?" The boy said, in surprise.

"Hi, just wanted to pick up the things I forgot here the other day." The brunette didn't have the energy to bring herself to be mad at him for standing her up.

"Weren't you supposed to come pick it up last night?" Ryan was annoyed; he didn't like to be interrupted. Especially when he had been having so much fun.

"Yes, I kinda had something to do and I couldn't make it. Why? Is there a problem?" Marissa countered, trying to see over his shoulder. He closed the door a little more.

"Problem? No. None at all."

"Okay, so can I come in?"

"Come in? Sure. Of course. Come on in, baby" The boy said louder than it was needed, opening the door wider to let her in.

"No need to yell, Ryan." Marissa chided, entering the apartment.

"I wasn't yelling, I'm just- hum- I'm just a little sleepy." He replied, passing a hand through his hair, nervous.

"Okay. So, I'll just take my things while you put something on." Ryan's choice of clothing consisted of his boxers.

"What?"

"Clothes? You are only in boxes, you do know that, right? And your hair is all messed up. Did you just get out of bed? Aren't you late for work?"

"I called in sick today. I couldn't get out of bed." It wasn't exactly a lie.

"Okay. So, I'm just going to grab my things. I think I left them in your bedroom. It will be just a second. You can keep resting." She didn't ask if he was sick, she didn't want to know. Marissa was starting to get sick of him.

"No! No need. Take a sit in the living room, and let me get them for you."

"Okay." Marissa did as he said, waiting so she could get out of this conversation.

The boy went to his room and Marissa noticed that he made sure to open his door as little as possible and to close it as quickly as he could. The brunette knew she should question him about it or maybe barge into the room, but she wasn't in the mood or right state of mind to see something that could probably shatter the only safe thing she had in her life.

"Here it is, baby. I don't think I forgot anything." The boy said, handing her a small bag filled with her possessions.

"Okay, thanks. Now I have to go, classes and all."

"All right. See you later?"

"Ok" The brunette left after giving him a quick peck on the lips.

* * *

"Marissa!" Summer yelled, coming up from behind a very surprised Marissa, and began to walk beside her.

"Hey, Summ. What are you doing here so early? Our next class is in about an hour or so."

"What? Why? Well, I could ask you the same question." The shorter girl said, set in keeping Marissa under the spotlight in this conversation.

"I had to pick my things up at Ryan's. I guess I miscalculated the time and got here too early." Marissa explained, hoping Summer didn't give her too much trouble over it.

"Weren't you supposed to do that last night?" The girl questioned, confused.

"Yeah, well, I forgot."

"You forgot? I thought that was where you had rushed off to, after all, you disappeared after practice. You totally blew me off." Summer stated a little annoyed.

"Sorry, I guess I was a little riled up after that stunt Jodie pulled off."

"A little?" Summer asked, holding her laugh.

"What did you expect, after what she did? I couldn't believe her, where does she get off, saying things like that?" Marissa roared, she was still mad at what had happened.

"Maybe, it wasn't you she was saying those things to." Summer suggested, trying to calm her friend. But it only infuriated her more.

"Since when do you defend her?"

"I don't, it just seemed weird" The shorter girl explained, trying to end the conversation.

"Anyway, I just went straight home, didn't wanna blow up on anyone who didn't deserve it." Marissa justified herself.

"I thought as much, that's why when I called your house and your mom told me you weren't there I figured that you had gone to Ryan's to make up."

"No, Ryan didn't even mention it this morning." The brunette answered, purposely forgetting to answer where she had been the night before. "He pretended that nothing happened and everything was fine. And I was too tired to be mad at him. It was easier to just go along with it."

"I know what you mean." Summer agreed.

"But anyways, why did you want to talk to me so badly last night? Did something happen?"

"No, I just wanted to finish our talk"

"What were we talking about?" Marissa questioned, so many things had happened the day before that her conversation with Summer had been lost among the other's.

"I can't remember. Nothing important, I guess. Just forget it." The shorter girl dismissed it.

"If you say so."

"But anyways Marissa, what's with the new clothes?" That made Marissa's blood run cold, she had no idea how to answer that, so she just improvised.

"Yeah, well, I wasn't in the mood for my usual clothes"

"I have never seen you in those clothes."

"Yeah, that's the whole concept of new, Summ." Marissa answered, hoping that Summer would leave it at that. For Marissa's relief, she did.

* * *

"Alex, wait up."

"Anna, hi." Alex said turning around.

"You know, you were late again." The girl said, catching up with her. The girls started to walk once again, they were headed to the cafeteria.

"Yeah, I know. I overslept."

"Professor Matthews is getting annoyed with your constant lateness and sleepiness in class. So are most of the others professors." Anna told her, trying to get something through her head.

"I know, but there is nothing I can do about it. I'm kinda having trouble sleeping at night." _Fantasizing with Marissa, and surprisingly, actually spending the night with her._

"Maybe you should get some help, it would really suck if you failed." Anna told her friend.

"Maybe." Alex agreed with her, she truly did. The blonde didn't wanna fail her classes, but there wasn't much she could do with the Marissa situation. She had already tried not to think about Marissa, but it was useless. Alex would just end up thinking about the other girl more than she would have otherwise.

"But enough with this boring stuff, let's meet the others."

* * *

"So, Alex what do you say?" Jonny asked Alex, noticing that she had her mind somewhere else and wasn't paying attention to what the others were saying.

"Huh?"

"Were you listening to a word we just said?" The boy asked, smiling.

"No, sorry." The blonde was more preoccupied with Marissa laughing with her friends a few feet away from Alex "What did you say, Jonny?"

"I asked you if you wanted to come with us, we are going to hang out at a bar or something later tonight."

"I don't think that's a good idea. I've got a test coming up this week and, as I have been told, I have to study, or else I'll fail."

"Oh come on Alex, let's have some fun. You can study tomorrow." Volchok said

"Yeah, tomorrow is always better." Teresa agreed.

"No, guys. I really have to study, I'm falling behind." The blonde explained.

"Come on, A. Don't be such a geek." Volchok insisted.

"Volchok leave her alone. If she says she needs to study, let her do it." Anna came to Alex's rescue.

"Yeah. I would go with you guys if I could. But I can't fail this one"

"Yeah, that would suck." Jonny agreed "Rain check?"

"Yeah, sure."

In truth, the blonde wasn't all that worried about said test, even though the test did exist and she really had to study. The reason Alex wanted to stay home that night was because, subconsciously, the blonde hopped Marissa would show up at her house during the night.

Marissa didn't.

* * *

And that was it. Hope you all liked it.

Please review.


	17. Wait for Me

Every year there is a competition between freshmen from different colleges, to make sure they get the school's spirit. Alex is a freshman, Marissa is the sophomore in charged of training the girls soccer team.

Don't own anything.

Thoughts are in italic.

Flashbacks are in bold.

AN: Thanks to WonderousPlaceForAnEcho, shassy25, michilp, .I Talk-2-Evil Little Pixies. and miralinda for the reviews. I'm actually surprised that there is still people out there that remember this story... lol

WonderousPlaceForAnEcho, alright, geek it is. And Marissa doesn't know that it was Alex's first time, but it will become an issue at some point.

shassy25, you had to read a few chapters. I had to read the entire story more than once to remeber what i was gonna do with it. I win, lol

michilp, Ryan still has to cause some trouble, so he will be around for a while, sorry. but thanks for the link, even if i think that deleted part of it, it really helped me find the site. I had it on my history page, but seeing that i hadn't visited it in i dont know how long, i couldnt find it. It also didnt help that invisionfree changed the order of the forums.... TheOCsMarissaAndAlex had always been number 15....

.I Talk-2-Evil Little Pixies., they haven't been switched, they just haven't developed yet. you will see...

miralinda, the two weeks are up, hopefully this will be enough....And about Summer, i think she might actually surprise you....

* * *

Chapter 17 – Wait for me

Alex did study.

She needed an excuse to herself so she could subconsciously wait for Marissa until later hours of the night, so the blonde studied. Alex studied until the 4 AM, but the brunette never showed. And Alex woke up the next morning with her head on some book.

Washing her face, Alex tried not to think what made her stay up at night, but in a way it was a good thing that she had. At least after some studying she had some idea what was going on in one of her classes. It was weird not being able to follow the lesson.

The blonde had always been the best, the one that teachers were proud of, that classmates would come for help, the one that had all the answers. It was nice to know that she hadn't completely gone dumb.

And for the first time in weeks she wasn't late for her class. _Anna will be proud of me, or at least, she will stop annoying me about it._

After she got ready, the blonde made her way into the entrance hall, to wait for the elevator. Once it arrived, she was shocked, to say the least, to see Ryan with his arm around Marissa.

"Alex, right?" The boy said.

"Yeah."

"Are you coming in?" Ryan asked, noticing that the blonde girl made no mention to enter the elevator.

"OK" Alex answered, doing as she said. She noticed that Marissa wouldn't look at her, or talk to her, for that matter.

"So you live here, Alex?" The boy asked, pretending to be interested.

"Yeah."

"Really, I didn't know that. How long?"

"Ever since the beginning of the year." The blonde girl said, not really in the mood for this conversation, or any conversation at all.

"Cool. And how do you like it here?" He continued. If Ryan noticed that he was the only one that wanted to keep talking, he didn't show it.

"Sorry, but I gotta run. I'm late." Alex answered once the doors opened. She wasn't late, but she didn't want to be in the same room with Marissa and Ryan like this. _There goes my good mood._

"Did you know she lived here?" Ryan asked his girlfriend, as they walked out of the elevator

"Summer mentioned it a while ago." She replied, not liking this line of questioning. She thought it was best to give him a noncommittal answer.

"Cool. She is nice."

_Hot._ They both thought.

"Yeah, she is."

"Are you two friends?" The boy insisted. _Is he really this dense?_ Marissa thought, not believing he hadn't picked up that she didn't want to talk about it. _Maybe he just doesn't care._

"Kinda of. Why?" Marissa replied vaguely, trying to think of an excuse to get out of there.

"Nothing, just thinking. Maybe we could invite her to have dinner with us some night." As soon as the words left Ryan's mouth, Marissa knew she would fight with every strength of her being to keep that from happening.

"Let's see. Anyway, I have to go. See you later." The girl replied, already thinking of ways to make sure it never occured.

"Okay. Bye baby. Have a nice day." Ryan said, giving Marissa a light kiss on the cheek, before walking off to whatever place he needed to be.

"You too."

* * *

Marissa was making her way to her first class in the morning, when she spotted her best friend a few feet away from her.

"Hey! Summer! Wait for me!" Marissa yelled, trying to catch up with her friend.

"Marissa, hi." The girl said turning around.

"Summ, you just walked right past me. Something on your mind?" The taller of the two asked, a little out of breath, as they walked to class.

"No, I guess I'm just a little distracted. Thinking about some stuff." Summer answered, still not paying full attention to Marissa. She thought over what had just come out of her mouth and then continued. "Yeah, I guess I do have some things on my mind."

"Anything you wanna share?"

"No. Not really, it's not really important. I mean, I'm totally right. I don't even need to discuss it." The smaller girl started to babble.

"If you say so."

"Really! You would totally agree with me. If you are not ready for something, you are not ready for it right?" Summer stated, obviously knowing what the answer would be, and clearly not paying much attention to it.

"Yeah, of course." Marissa answered, wondering where that conversation was going.

"See, I knew you would agree with me. There is a time for everything, and I need to wait until my timing is right."

"Summer, did Seth do something you didn't like?" The taller girl asked, fearfully. She always thought of Seth as a sweet little boy, totally harmless, but what if she had been wrong? If that was the case, Marissa would show him not to mess with her best friend.

"Seth?" Summer stopped, utterly confused, paying attention to her friend for the first time that morning. "What does he have to do with anything?"

"Wasn't he the one that was trying to push you into doing something?" Marissa replied, puzzled. She couldn't interpret Summer's words in any other context.

"Seth? Of course not. Have you met Seth?" Summer countered, indignantly, as they resumed walking side by side.

"True. But then what's the problem? Or should I say who?" Marissa was troubled, whatever had happened, it had clearly affected her best friend.

"No one. I just happen to think that my timing isn't right."

"Right for what?"

"For nothing. That's just it. My timing is not right, at the moment." Summer replied, not giving much room for arguments.

"You sure?" The taller insisted, still concerned about her friend.

"Yes, Marissa. You worry too much." Summer replied, dismissively, putting an end to the conversation.

"If you say so."

"But sometimes I wonder that maybe my timing will be too late and there will be nothing waiting." Summer whispered and Marissa was left to wonder with the girl had actually said it or it was just her imagination.

After Summer left, Marissa couldn't help but wonder about her own situation, and think that maybe Alex wouldn't want to hang around for long.

* * *

The professor finished his class and told them they were dismissed.

"Alex? Are you okay?" Anna asked Alex, as they made their way out of the room.

"Yeah. Why?" She responded, not looking at Anna.

"You just seem down, or something."

"No, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" The girl insisted, concerned

"Yeah." Alex replied, annoyed.

"Alex, you know that you can talk to me about anything right?" Anna decided to try one more time, she was sure that Alex was nowhere near fine.

"Why can't just let it go? I'm telling you I'm fine. I'm here, I'm on time, I'm awake. Can't you just stop annoying me now?" Alex regretted blowing up at Anna the moment that the words left her mouth, it was just that she wasn't in the mood to talk. She just wanted to wallow in self pity for a while.

"Okay. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to meddle into your life." Anna replied as she prepared to leave, hurt by Alex's words.

"No. I'm the one that's sorry. I guess I'm a little stressed. I didn't mean to take it out on you." She apologized, but there was still an edge in her voice.

"That's fine. I have to go anyway. Bye, Alex."

* * *

Closing the door behind her, Alex leaned against it. She was glad that the day had ended. _Finally._ Her temper had not improved ever since her argument with Anna, and there were still some people she had to apologize to.

Jodie was the first on the list, the Latino girl also hadn't been in a good mood and they had come close to take their little disagreement to the next level, that being the World War Three.

Finally finding the energy to get up, Alex decided to take a shower, but before she could take more than 3 steps, there was a knock on the door. _Who can it be? _Annoyed that she had to go back the way she had just came, Alex answered the door. But she didn't know what to feel when she came face to face with Marissa Cooper.

"Can I come in?" The brunette mumbled quietly. If Alex hadn't been paying close attention, she was sure she would have missed it.

The blonde didn't know if she could trust her voice, so she just nodded and moved to the side to let the other girl enter her house. Neither of them said anything, they just kept staring at each other, until Alex remembered what her mother had taught her.

"Do you wanna sit? Something to drink? Something to eat?" Alex offered emotionless, showing her strict education. After all Marissa was a guest.

"No, thank you. I think we should talk." Marissa didn't want to wait, if she did, there was a huge possibility that she would lose her nerve. And that was something she couldn't afford to lose.

"I don't see what we have to talk about. You made your position very clear." Alex didn't raise her voice, she wasn't angry.

"It's not like that Alex. Just let me explain." The brunette said, almost begging.

"Fine, explain. But I don't see how that's gonna change anything." Her voice was hurt and that upset Marissa, but the brunette didn't want to dwell on that.

"Thanks. I don't know how to start this, so this may come out a little confusing at first, but just let me finish, okay?"

"Ok."

"My mother is Julie Cooper." Marissa declared and stopped. She was trying to organize her thoughts.

"And?" Alex wasn't going to help matters.

"You've never met Julie Cooper. My mother is the kinda woman that everyone talks about, that has all the friends, the one that is the center of attention. My mom is the one that lights up the entire room. And to tell you the truth, I've always wanted to be like her."Marissa took a second to breathe in deeply. "My younger sister, Kaitlin, was always like that. Exactly like my mom. Me? Well, I always stood at the sidelines. My mom always tried to include me, and tell me how to dress and talk and behave, but for some reason I always ended up in the back watching both of them."

"Look, Marissa, I'm really sorry that you felt that way. But I really don't see how this has anything to do with what is happening right now, what it has to do with me." Alex was beginning to feel sorry for the girl. But the blonde didn't want to give in, and show Marissa how weak she truly was.

"During my first year in college, I found Summer. We met in those crazy practices for Frestion. She was pretty much the same crazy girl you met, and we became best friends in no time. Not long after, she started to date Seth. You know Seth Cohen, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, Seth was a freshman like us, but his brother Ryan was in his last semester. The four of us started to hang out together, and soon after we became couples: Seth and Summer, me and Ryan. It was my dream come true, because Ryan was this really cool guy that everybody loved. We were invited to every party, talked to everyone, and suddenly I had tons of friends. I had what I always wanted." Marissa paused, taking a moment to get a hold of her emotions.

"I see. That's-"Alex was thankful that Marissa interrupted her, the blonde wasn't sure how she should respond to that.

"I'm not finished yet." The brunette continued, this time her voice was stronger, more confident, hiding the fact of how much she feared the blonde's rejection. "The thing is that ever since I first saw you, I'm not completely sure of what I want anymore."

"Marissa, what are you saying?" The blonde asked, afraid to get her hopes up.

"I'm saying that I know that I have been a jerk to you. I'm saying that I'm sorry that I caused you pain. I'm saying that I like you, more so than just a friend."Marissa answered in one breath, as she passed from one side to the other, and stopped to look deeply in Alex's before continuing quietly, almost too quiet for the blonde to hear "But I'm also saying that I don't think I can leave Ryan or what he represents, at least not just yet."

"I'm not sure what I'm supposed to say to that." Alex replied in the same tone.

"Tell me that you will give me some time, tell me that you wanna be with me." Marissa begged, caressing Alex's left cheek with her hand. "Please, bear with me for a little while."

"OK." The blonde answered, leaning in for a kiss. Marissa met her halfway.

Alex knew she would regret this decision, but there was no way around it. She would do anything Marissa asked of her. Anything.

* * *

So, that was it. hope you all liked it. See you in two weeks.

Please Review.


	18. Lying Is The Most Fun A Girl Can Have

Every year there is a competition between freshmen from different colleges, to make sure they get the school's spirit. Alex is a freshman, Marissa is the sophomore in charged of training the girls soccer team.

Don't own anything.

Thoughts are in italic.

Flashbacks are in bold.

Thanks to bigblusky, .I Talk-2-Evil Little Pixies., theblackbox , JackyKay for the reviews.

.I Talk-2-Evil Little Pixies., what confused you?

I hope you all like this one...

* * *

Chapter 18 – Lying Is The Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off

Marissa lay awake a few mornings after, watching Alex as the blonde slept. The brunette let her hand caress Alex's face, and then run to her neck, and then to her back, allowing her finger to draw small circles around the blonde's lower back. She had to control herself not to wake her girlfriend. _Is that what she really is? My girlfriend?_

"Good morning, sleepyhead" Marissa said, once she saw Alex's eyes flutter open.

"Good morning. Were you awake for too long?" The blonde asked smiling, as the brunette leaned in to give Alex a kiss.

"I'm not sure. I don't think so." _Time flies when I'm with you._ Marissa thought, smiling.

"Good, but you should have woken me up." Alex was having some trouble keeping her eyes open.

"I like watching you sleep. But to tell you the truth I was very, and I mean, veeery tempted to wake you up so we could continue this." Marissa said, kissing Alex, effectively waking the blonde.

The brunette moved on top of Alex, straddling her, without breaking their kiss. The blonde let her hands roam around Marissa's body, touching every inch she could get her hands on. Marissa moaned into the kiss, and then pulled her head back to look down at her companion.

"I could do this all day long." Alex told her, she was alternating between staring at Marissa's eyes and mouth.

"Me too, but I have lunch with my mom and some other boring people to attend."_ And Ryan._ They both thought"She told me to be there Sunday at 11:30 A.M., what time is it?"

"11" Alex said, after taking a look at her watch.

"Shit! I still have to go home to get some clothes!" Marissa shrieked. She got up from the bed, trying to find her wrinkled clothes.

"You can wear mine." Alex replied. The blonde turned in bed so that she could watch the brunette run around in the room.

"I wish I could, baby. But if my mom saw me with your clothes she would know something was up." Marissa said in between putting on one sleeve and another of her blouse.

"I will see you later then."

"Okay. I'll try to swing by here tonight. Bye, Al" Marissa responded and kissed Alex goodbye.

"Bye"

* * *

The phone rang as Alex was cooking, or at least trying to cook her lunch. The blonde had to run to the living room to pick up the phone and run back before she got the kitchen on fire.

"Alex, hey, it's me Anna." The girl said on the phone

"Anna, hi. What's up?" The blonde asked. She sipped a spoon of the sauce she was cooking. "Yuck."

"What? What's wrong?" Anna asked, scared.

"Nothing, I've just proved that I can't cook my own lunch." Alex replied, throwing whatever she had cooked in the garbage. "So, you were about to say something."

"Volchok is throwing this party tonight on campus, and a bunch of us are thinking of going. We were wondering if you wanted to come too."

"I would love to, but I have got to study." Alex knew this was the excuse that Anna would never argue against.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. You were right, Anna." The blonde replied, back in the living room, looking for the number of the nearest Thai restaurant. "I was being too careless and irresponsible. But now I'm trying to catch up."

"Alright. Next time then." Anna replied disappointed.

"Yeah, sure."

Alex did as she said, after all Anna would expect her to have studied a bit, written some paper or something. Besides it kept her mind off of the fact that Marissa never showed.

* * *

The next morning, Alex entered her first class and spotter one of her best friends already inside, sitting in her usual seat. Anna was always early, always ready to learn. It reminded Alex of herself before she came to college.

"Anna, I'm so sorry for blowing you off last night." Alex apologized, taking her usual sit beside her friend.

"That's alright Alex. I'm glad you are taking some responsibility for your studies now. Shit, now I sound like my mom" Anna replied, holding her head between her hands.

"Yeah, but I think I can forgive you for that." Alex responded jokingly

"How generous of you." Anna continued, sarcasm evident in her voice.

"See, I'm a very generous, and sweet and nice and cute and charming and intelligent person."

"Actually, I believe your best quality is your modesty." Anna replied mockingly "But seriously, you missed one hell of a party."

"That good?" Alex asked not really all that interested.

"Yeah, like Seth Cohen, you know him, right?"

"Yes, how could I not." _You mention him all the time._ Alex thought.

"He got so drunk that it took 3 guys, plus his girlfriend to get him off of the table where he had decided to do a live strip tease show at the same time as trying to sing 'One way or another' in a karaoke"

"I'm quite sure that someone here enjoyed the show." Alex stated, referring to Anna's crush on the boy.

"Shut up." Anna replied, giving Alex a light shove on the shoulder "But I'm glad his brother was there to get him home. I don't know how Seth's girlfriend would have managed otherwise."

"His brother?" That caught Alex attention.

"Yeah, you know him, Ryan Cohen. You must have met him somewhere, he graduated last year, but he's always around. He is Marissa Cooper's boyfriend" Anna explained, telling Alex what she already knew.

"Yeah, I know who he is. So was she there with him?" Alex asked, trying to appear nonchalant.

"Who?"

"Marissa."

"Yeah, I think so. Why?" Anna asked curiously.

"No reason, just keeping the conversation going." Alex answered indifferently, or at least trying to be.

"Alright then. Let's see, what else happened at that party…"

"Anna, you know what? How about you tell about the rest of the party later? I need to go to the bathroom before class starts." Alex said, cutting off her friend, at the same time trying to keep her emotions in check. She couldn't let her voice betray her, Anna would know something was up.

"Okay." She said, confused.

"Great, I'll be right back." Alex hadn't even finished her sentence when she got up, maybe if she had Anna would have seen the tear that escaped her eye.

Alex did go to the bathroom, but she didn't go back to class.

* * *

- 4 days later -

Alex had been on her way back home, when she was stopped by Jodie who had been in a very bad mood.

Jodie's bad mood had been somewhat constant in the last few days. First she had been hurt by some of the Latino's girls angry words, and guilty for some of her own comebacks; but soon Alex realized that she wasn't going to get an apology, and that it was useless express regret to Jodie, mostly because the girl simply ignored it.

Alex knew that it wasn't anything against Alex per say, she had heard rumors of Jodie snapping at several other people, and the blonde had done nothing to the other girl for her be acting like that, at least not that she knew of; but still Alex was getting tired of it.

The blonde had already tried to ask Jodie what was wrong on several occasions, trying to help her friend to cope with whatever it was that she was going through, but the Latino girl just told her off. So, Alex had decided to just ignore it and hope that it would pass, that somehow it would work itself out.

This time, Jodie wanted to go to a live show of a band that Alex had never even heard of. That wasn't the only reason that the blonde declined the offer though, the main reason Alex had said no to the offer was because she already had plans with Marissa that night. Of course, she wasn't about to tell Jodie that.

"Alex, tell me again why you can't hang out with me tonight." Jodie demanded, annoyed for being blown off one again.

"Jodie, I've told you at least 5 times already, I need to study. I have lots of catching up to do." Alex repeated what she had told her friend countless times.

"You've studied every single day this week." Jodie countered, knowing that Alex was lying through her teeth.

"I know but just as I said, I have lots of catching up to do." Alex replied remorsefully

"Alex, if you don't wanna come, don't come. Just don't lie to me." Jodie yelled, storming off.

* * *

Marissa and Ryan had been on his couch making out, that is, he was trying to kiss her and she was finding reasons to distract him. Finally, after much work from Marissa, she managed to get through his head that she needed to get up because she needed to get home. She told him that her mother was waiting for her at home, it wasn't the truth, but whatever worked was fine by her.

Getting up, she finally had a chance to look at the clock by the wall and was shocked to realize she was already late for her date with Alex. By date, she meant sleepover in Alex's house, because they never went out together.

"Marissa, spend the night here" Ryan asked, he had heard that she had to be home, but it didn't mean that he was going to make it easy for her to go.

"You know I would love to Ryan, but I can't stay, I've got to go home. You know my mom, always nagging me." Marissa replied apologetic.

"Tell her you feel asleep." He explained, as if talking to a child.

"I've already told her that the other night, I'm going home tonight" Marissa retorted annoyed.

"Fine." The boy snapped, also angry.

"Bye" Marissa said from the door. She didn't wait for his response, she was already late, and Alex wouldn't be too happy with it, even if the blonde didn't show it.

* * *

"Hi, Marissa." Alex said, opening the door.

"Hey, Alex. I'm sorry I'm late, I had some trouble with my mom, she kept annoying me. She didn't wanna let me leave the house." Marissa explained, lying.

"That's okay. I'm glad you are here now."

"I'm glad to be here." The brunette replied kissing Alex, taking her time before letting go.

"Good, so about dinner. How does take out sound? I bought some Chinese food on my way home today." Alex said, still a little disoriented from the kiss, having some trouble closing the door.

They walked to the living room, hand in hand, and Marissa sat in the couch, pulling Alex down with her. The blonde fell down in Marissa's lap, but the brunette wasn't complaining. Marissa caressed Alex's face, and the blonde leaned in her touch. They both had lazy smiles in their faces.

"That's fine, but only if you promise to make that apple pie for desert. The one that you made a couple of days ago."

"I did that out of boredom" _To kill the time waiting for you_. "How can you like that?"

"What do you mean? That's totally yummy, like you" Marissa said, pulling Alex in for another kiss. The brunette let her arms rest on Alex's waist, while the blonde did the same on Marissa's shoulder. They kept their bodies close, mouths almost touching.

"You are lucky."

"That's true, but why are you saying it?" Marissa could feel the air coming out of Alex's mouth when she spoke, and knowing that she didn't have to resist her urges anymore, she kissed the blonde again.

"You are lucky that I can't say no to you, and that this pie is about the only thing my grandmother ever managed to teach me how to cook, very badly I might add."

"I disagree. Your pie is delicious besides, your cooking skills can't be worse than mine." Marissa's hands continued to caress the blonde's back, which Alex was finding very distracting so it took her a while to respond.

"Are you willing to bet on that?"

"Yes. In the very least you can bake a pie. If you let me alone in a kitchen, I'm able to burn boiling water." Marissa's answer made Alex laugh and she noticed that it was the most beautiful sound that she had ever heard.

"Prove it, then. You will help me make that pie, and we will see which one of us is the worst cook."

"Alright, you are on. If you can teach me to bake this pie you win, but if I make a mess out of everything I win."

"Okay, but you have to try, not just make the mess to win."

"Fine, I promise I'll do my best. But what's the prize?" Marissa replied, between kisses.

"I don't know. Do you have any ideas?"

"Actually, I do. The loser will have to do everything that the winner wants for 24 hours."

"Are you serious?" Alex asked unbelieving.

"Yeap."

"Fine, but why do I get the feeling that I'll regret this?"

"Actually, no. I don't think you will." The brunette responded with a smirk on her face, pulling Alex with her to the kitchen.

* * *

"Alright, Marissa. Ready to make a pie?" Alex asked, once she had made sure that she had all the ingredients

"As ready as I'll ever be." Marissa answered, knowing that she would screw up somehow.

"First, wash your hands." Alex said, following her own order.

"Okay. Hands washed." The brunette responded, once she had done as the blonde instructed.

"Next, we will make the crust. You have to sift together dry ingredients, which are these ones." Alex said, showing Marissa the recipe book "Flour, baking powder and salt. Add shortening and lastly add the ice water, a little at a time, until all ingredients cling together."

"Alright. All done."

"Now, butter this plate. And then take a portion of the crust, roll it out and fit it to the plate by cutting it off evenly around the edge." Alex continued her explanation, helping Marissa fit the crust into the plate "Yeah, that's it. Now, gather up the scraps left from cutting and make into another sheet for the top crust. It's gotta be a little thinner than the under crust"

"That's as good as it's gonna get." Marissa said, wiping her forehead.

"That's perfect. But, you just have a little something on your face." Alex replied

"Where?"

"Here." Alex answered, pointing to where Marissa had just wiped.

"Did I get it?" The brunette asked, after making an even bigger mess.

"No, you just made it worse."

"So, can you clean it for me?"

"As you wish." Alex replied, finding a napkin to clean the brunette's face "See, all clean."

"Thank you." Marissa said, giving Alex a kiss.

"You are very, very welcome. But let's continue. Now, the filling. Wash the apples, and cut them. They have to be really thin."

Both girls were cutting the apples until Marissa accidentally cut her finger. She had been distracted by Alex, watching her work with so much determination. The brunette had seen that look on Alex's face a few times before, during some games she played. It had been a while since Marissa last saw it.

It showed Alex as she really was, not holding back, not being shy or afraid. At times like these, it was like Alex didn't care about anyone or anything around her, like she was free, like she was truly alive. And Marissa loved every minute of it.

"Marissa, you cut your finger!" The blonde said alarmed, putting said finger into her own mouth. Alex could feel the taste of Marissa's blood, and it worried her.

"That's alright, don't worry about it." Marissa replied, enjoying the feel of Alex's lips on her finger.

"Wait a second, I'll get the first aid kit." Alex responded, letting go of Marissa to get to the bathroom. She didn't get too far before the brunette stopped her.

"No! I liked it better where it was." Marissa explained.

"What? Oh."

"Yeah."

"Like this." It was more of a statement than a question on Alex's part. She had understood what Marissa meant, but this time, instead of only pressing her tongue against the wound to make it stop bleeding, Alex also let her tongue run over it, caressing it, kissing it.

"Yes." Soon, it became too much for Marissa to handle and she took her finger out of Alex's mouth, crashing her lips into the blonde's. "I want you."

"What about the pie?" Alex asked between kisses.

"We'll finish it tomorrow."

"What about the bet?" The blonde asked, trying hard to get her head to focus, it was not an easy task as Marissa's hands were traveling up underneath her blouse.

"How about we call it a draw?"

"Okay, and dinner?" Alex answered, suppressing a moan.

"I'm not hungry." _At least not for food._ Marissa thought, while trying to open the blonde's jeans.

"Neither am I. And what abou-"

"Alex" Marissa groaned, cutting the blonde off.

"Yes?"

"Shut up." The brunette ordered. She pushed Alex against the counter and continued to kiss her, continuing in her plan to take Alex right there in the kitchen.

* * *

And that was it. You can find the recipe used in this chapter in this site:

h t t p : / / w w w (dot) h o m e m a d e - d e s s e r t - r e c i p e s (dot) c o m / i n d e x (dot) h t m l

Please Review.


	19. You Oughta Know

Every year there is a competition between freshmen from different colleges, to make sure they get the school's spirit. Alex is a freshman, Marissa is the sophomore in charge of training the girls' soccer team.

Don't own anything.

Thoughts are in italic.

Flashbacks are in bold.

AN: Thanks to bigblusky, .I Talk-2-Evil Little Pixies., WonderousPlaceForAnEcho and gigi1 for the reviews.

bigblusky, Marissa will get what is coming for her, but you will have to be patient. lol. Hope you see this as a step up.

.I Talk-2-Evil Little Pixies., sorry to inform but there wont be too much cuteness for a while. Hope that was enough for you. BTW, have i ever told you i love this flower of yours? Where can i find it?

WonderousPlaceForAnEcho, actually, that was a reference to a Panic! at the disco song, with the same name. I didnt remember that movie, but i guess it works too. Actually, maybe that's even better, considering the ending. lol. Actually, I pretty shocked that it took somebody this long to comment on the titles, most of them have some reference to a song, a movie, or a TV series. Can you figure out where this one comes from? ;)

gigi1, I'm glad that you like it. Let's see what you think of this one.

One more thing, before the actual chapter. Sorry this is one week late, my last couple of weeks were from hell and i didnt even have time to sleep. So enough of this, here is the next chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 19 - You Oughta Know**

The blonde was in the hallways on her way to class, she wasn't in much of a hurry, considering that she wasn't late. Actually, Alex was early, which was happening more often over the fact that most of Marissa's classes started earlier than Alex's.

"WOW! She's still alive." Jodie said, coming up from behind Alex.

"Funny, Jodie. Very Funny." Alex responded not really all that interested in having this conversation. Jodie would ask her to go somewhere, she would say no, and Jodie would be pissed again, as the Latino hadn't been in a very good mood as of late. It had been the same for the couple of months that Alex and Marissa had been together, the blonde didn't know how Jodie hadn't given up yet, most of Alex's friend already had.

"Yeah, well. I'm hilarious like that." Jodie replied, putting her arm in Alex's shoulder and pulling her along.

"Yeah, so what's up?" _Can't really get out of this, might as well get this over with._

"With me? Nothing, I'm just here, hanging out with the friends that want to be with me." Jodie said, in a way that showed that she was just messing with Alex, which hadn't happened in a long time. _She is a better mood today. Is she actually making a joke? Or at least trying to?_ Alex thought.

"I'm sorry, Jodie. I know I haven't really been around these last few weeks, but I've been busy. I had to s-"

"Study. Yeah, right. Cut the crap, Alex. We both know that you haven't been studying all this time."

"I don't know what you want me to tell you."

"How about the truth?" Jodie said, lifting Alex's hair so that the hickey in the blonde's neck was visible. "Or are you gonna tell me that you got this, studying?"

"What?" Alex asked confused.

"Here, come with me."

Alex was dragged to the bathroom, where Jodie showed the blonde her hickey in the mirror, with a smirk on her face.

"Shit!" Alex cursed, panicked. The blonde stared at the mirror, to the red mark in her neck in horror. She had both of her arms rested on the sink, supporting her weight.

"I guess Marissa didn't tell you of her little present." Jodie continued, teasing Alex. She came up behind the blonde, glancing at the mark through the mirror. "Nice"

"Damn! I've got to hide it! Do you have any make up with you?" Alex exclaimed, she hadn't even notice the part where Jodie had already assumed that Marissa was the one that gave it to her. This only served as the confirmation that the Latino girl wanted.

"Why? What's the problem? It's not like you have a boyfriend or a girlfriend. If you have a hickey, it's nobody's business but your own." Jodie exclaimed, and then continued, with what appeared to be an afterthought "And Marissa's, apparently."

"Jodie, you can't tell anyone." Jodie moved to sit on the sink, looking directly at Alex.

"About the hickey? Alex, I think you are making too much fuss over nothing. Or are you worried that people will know that you are lying when you say 'I have to study'? 'Cause let me tell you, I'm pretty sure nobody is buying that crap anymore."

"No! The part about Marissa. Nobody can know about her. How do you know, anyway?" Alex asked, still alarmed.

"Alex, really, it doesn't take a genius to figure it out. First, you are completely obsessed about her, then you two keep going back and forth, and now you have a secret lover. Who might that be?" Jodie asked, adding a final part lighter than the rest, in a conspiratory tone. "Besides, you didn't deny it the first time I said it."

"Does anyone else know?" Alex asked, defeated.

"Not that I know of." Jodie noticed that the entire situation was really bothering Alex, so this time she answered more seriously. The Latino girl pulled the blonde to her, hugging her in an attempt to give her comfort as much as she could.

"Good. You can't tell anyone. Please." Jodie understood what was going on in Alex's head, she could relate to it, but at the same time she disagreed with it completely.

"Alex, if I wanted to tell someone, I would have done that when it first started. But, are you sure of what you are doing?" The Latino girl asked, carefully. The last thing she wanted was for Alex to become defensive or storm out of the bathroom.

"What do you mean?" Alex lifted her head from Jodie's shoulder, disentangled herself from her, and sat down on the sink, next to her friend. The blonde wasn't sure if she wanted to hear what would come next, and she wanted to be able to escape if she decided that she needed to.

"I mean, are you sure you wanna be with her? Are you sure you wanna be the other woman?" Jodie took a deep breath, to give Alex time for the question to sink in, continuing before the blonde had a chance to respond. "Are you sure you wanna be the one that she keeps a secret while she parades around with her boyfriend?"

"Of course I am." Alex answered, but her tone was unsure, the blonde had her eyes on the floor. "I really like her. When we are together, it's perfect. I may- I think-I think I may love her."

"I was afraid you were gonna say that." Jodie commented with a humorless laugh "But, isn't this worse? I mean, being in love with her, and at the same time having to stay in the sidelines."

"I guess. But what choice do I have? I can't leave her." Alex kept her eyes glued to the floor. She was fighting the urge to cry and she didn't want Jodie to see it. It was a useless effort; Jodie already knew Alex was on the verge of tears by the quivering of the blonde's voice.

"Maybe, but think of it like this: if she likes you as much as you like her, if she loves you; she won't be able to leave you either. But if she doesn't like you as much as you like her, if she would rather live without you, do you really think its worth to waste your time with her?" The girl asked, putting her hand on Alex's shoulder. Jodie wanted to comfort the blonde, but at the same time she wanted to physically keep Alex from bolting out of the room.

Alex took her time before she answered the question. It wasn't that she had never thought of that before, she had lost count of how many times she had considered asking Marissa to leave her boyfriend, she also imagined that the brunette would comply. Alex dreamed that Marissa would dump her boyfriend for her without a second thought. But she knew that it probably wouldn't be the case.

"Jodie, I get what you are saying. Really, I do. But I don't know what I would do if it's the later." The blonde said, making sure that Jodie understood that she had carefully considered the question, not just answered the first thing that came to mind.

"You would rather not know." Jodie stated. It wasn't a question, but Alex answered it anyway.

"Yes. Please, don't think too low of me."

"I don't. I get it. I know that you think that I don't understand what's like to be in your position, but I do. I understand it. And trust me, it's always better to know." The Latino girl declared slightly displeased, exasperated.

"What do you mean?" Alex asked, intrigued, looking up to her friend's face.

"Nothing." Jodie responded quickly, getting a hold of her temper. "Don't think I'm trying to get you to dump her because I don't like her. I'm not trying to influence you, I'm trying to make you see things from other angles. Besides, it's not like I have something against her per say, I just don't like her group."

"I know she can be a little snob and whatever when she is with her friends-"The blonde began, trying to defend Marissa, but she was interrupted before she could finish.

"Or any other person." Jodie declared, realizing that she had just said that out loud. "Sorry, not gonna butt in anymore."

"But when we are together, just me and her, she is the sweetest person I've ever met." Alex continued. Her eyes shone when she remembered her time with Marissa.

"And that's one of the reasons I don't like her group. Why can't she be the sweetest person you've ever met when everyone else is around? Why does she have to hide it and treat everyone else as dirt? And I'm sure there are others just like her in that group, but they choose to be like that. That's just pathetic. I hate Seth Cohen, but he is the closest thing to real in that group, and he is only into it because of his brother." Jodie countered, letting some of her anger back into her voice before she managed to control it.

The girl withdrew the hand that was on Alex's shoulder and wrapped around herself. That's when Alex realized two things: first that Jodie was trying to protect herself, she wasn't as fearless as she pretended to be; and second, the Latino's eyes were completely empty, there was no emotion inside. She was broken.

"Come on, it's not like that. They were all pretty cool with me, they are all nice. And they are not cruel to you either." Alex reasoned.

"Because you were a star at Freshtion. They wanted you to be like them. But ask any other of your classmates the same question, ask them if after Freshtion everyone was nice to them. And me? Well, I'm pretty much in the same situation as you. I'm a starter into 2 teams, soccer and basketball. Besides, if they ever tried to mock me, they would end up with a black eye." And although Jodie said this sentence with the same bold tone and confident attitude, for some reason Alex didn't feel all that convinced.

"But still, they can't all be that bad. You said it yourself, Seth is nice, Marissa is nice, Summer is nice, and a bunch of others." The blonde appealed, hoping that she was wrong. She didn't know how to deal with the fact that Jodie wasn't invincible. The Latino had always been so sure of everything; the way she walked, the way she talked. It was weird imagining that something could get to Jodie.

"That just proves my point, Alex. They are that fake. I can't trust any of them, can you?" The girl asked, but didn't wait for Alex to answer "Individually, they are not bad, but I don't like them as a group. Something along the lines of 'Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you, who you are'"

"So, you think they are all bad" Alex concluded.

"Not bad. Just not worth wasting my time. I would rather have people around me that I know that I can rely on. Alex, I consider you my friend. And I know we haven't been hanging out much, which is mostly your fault," Jodie added for good humor, but Alex knew that there was some truth to that statement, and promised herself that she would spend more time with her friends. "But if you ever need anything, you can count on me. Always."

"Thank you."

* * *

And that was it. I will try to keep the deadline next time. ;)

Please review.


	20. Conversations With Snobby People

Every year there is a competition between freshmen from different colleges, to make sure they get the school's spirit. Alex is a freshman, Marissa is the sophomore in charge of training the girls soccer team.

Don't own anything.

Thoughts are in italic.

Flashbacks are in bold.

AN: Thanks to .I Talk-2-Evil Little Pixies., dp15 and bigblusky for the reviews.

.I Talk-2-Evil Little Pixies., Found it. Or at least I think I did. Lol. Thanks. I had never seen that site. Ok, I'm not gonna say never seen it, just don't remember it. But it's wow. Really, really good. And, I'm glad you liked the chapter so much, I wasn't so sure if I would put that chapter in or not. Still no cuteness, but I hope you like this one too.

dp15, =( can you please not tell the rest of the story before I get there? Lol. But, yeah, they did. But don't tell anyone ;P

bigblusky, yeah, she has her motives, but I'll let you decide if it is a bad thing or not. I'm not sure how many times I already said this but, Jodie will play a big part in the story and a lot of the things Alex chooses from now on will be because of Jodie.

And, before I forget: some of the dialogue in this chapter was taken from episode The Debut (S01E04). Originally, the conversation was about Luke and Ryan, but I thought it would be funny to set it up like this.

Still a long way to go… let's get to it, shall we?

* * *

**Chapter 20 – Conversations with snobby people**

Alex was somewhat thankful when she saw her building at a distance, glad to finally be home. She felt relieved that she had talked with Jodie, that she had found someone with whom she could discuss whatever relationship the blonde had with Marissa, but it still was emotionally draining and Alex was happy to be able to lie down and rest. Besides, Marissa was supposed to drop by later tonight and the blonde knew they needed to talk about some things.

The blonde had been on the lobby, waiting for the elevator when she felt her phone vibrate. Taking it out of her pocket, Alex noticed that it was a text message from Marissa.

'Sorry, but I don't think I'll be able to see you tonight. My mom decided that we needed some bonding time. Maybe tomorrow? - Marissa.'

Alex didn't know it, but this was the first time that Marissa was telling the truth when she told Alex that she couldn't make it to their date because of her mother. She was so focused in replying Marissa's message with a simple 'OK' that she never noticed the figure standing behind her.

"Alex?" The blonde was startled by the voice, especially because it felt so close. Turning around she came into view with last person she wanted to see. _Shit!_ She could only hope that he hadn't seen the message

"Ryan, hi." Alex was trying to keep her voice level, she didn't him to know how much she disliked him. Somewhere in her brain, she recalled Jodie's speech on people pretending to be someone they were not, and she realized that she was doing exactly that. But at the same time, Alex didn't know how to act otherwise. Should she just tell him to get lost? That would be impolite, and against everything her mother had ever taught her.

Besides, the blonde was pretty sure that Marissa wouldn't like that one bit. What if he decided her behavior was too strange? Because technically he hadn't done anything wrong. Marissa would never forgive Alex if he became suspicious.

"Hey. I was just thinking about you." Ryan said with a smirk.

"Really?" Alex's voice was a little shaky; the boy was standing too close. When Alex's realized that he had no intention of moving away, she took a couple of steps back and almost fell on her ass when the elevators doors opened behind her.

"Yeah, I mean, ever since I found out you lived here too, I have been thinking of inviting you to dinner at my house. My way of saying welcome." Alex entered the elevator walking back, still facing Ryan, she pressed the bottom to her floor and kept going until her back touched the back of the elevator. Ryan followed her, only looking away from her to find the correct number to his floor.

"I – hun- I…" He entered her personal space, and she was fighting the urge not to shove him back.

"So, how about tonight?" He had his hands on either side of her face, trapping her, he had his smirk still in place.

"Tonight? Hum- I'm not sure that-that's a good idea, I think I need to study and-" Alex stuttered, she didn't like where this was going.

"That's silly. You can do it tomorrow. Now, come on." Ryan stopped coming close when he realized they had reached her floor. She took this as a chance to escape, passing under his arms, and quickly leaving the elevator. "Go to your apartment, get ready and I'll be waiting for you in mine. Number 83. If you are not there in 1 hour, I'll come here to drag you." He finished before the doors closed.

Alex took a deep breath and closed her eyes, resigning herself to her fate. She had a sinking feeling that she wouldn't like how her night would end.

* * *

Julie and Marissa were at a restaurant, sitting opposite each other at a table. These encounters happened every so often, whenever Julie decided that she needed to bond with her daughters, but Kaitlin hadn't been able to make it as she was on the other side of the country.

Most of the time, Marissa didn't mind these dinners, usually she was glad to spend time with her mother away from the spotlight, seeing that whenever they were with other people, Marissa was soon forgotten. But this time, the brunette was not all that happy with her mother's imposition, Marissa had had other plans with Alex and she was surprised to realize that that's where she wanted to be.

"Well, what would you like to talk about? Clothes, school?" Julie asked, looking at the menu.

Marissa thought it was completely pointless, her mother already knew what she was going to order. They both always ordered the same thing.

"Everything is fine, mom. School is great, and I went to the mall yesterday with Summer and there is nothing new. Is there a reason for this?" Marissa didn't want to stall; she wanted to get out of this thing as soon as possible. Maybe if they made this fast, she would still have time to go to Alex's house.

"This is not about anything, except my desire to spend time with you. I'm very happy to be here with you" Julie was taken aback by her daughter's comeback, Marissa had never spoken to her that away.

"Sorry." Marissa looked at her mom, she felt guilty for snapping at her.

"Yeah, but do tell me. How is Ryan?" Julie continued, ignoring Marissa's previous words. Before Marissa could answer, the waiter came to get their orders.

"He is fine, I think." Marissa kept her focus away from her mother's face, she knew that the older woman would disapprove of her response.

"You think?"

"I'm not really sure, we have been fighting." Marissa responded, trying to appear nonchalant.

"So, you got into a fight. You've had fights before. You guys have been together for over a year."Julie was frustrated, she couldn't believe what her daughter was doing.

"Maybe..." Marissa stopped talking when the waiter brought their food, murmuring a soft 'thanks' to him. "That's the problem. I mean, what if there's someone else out there?"

"Like who, Marissa?" Julie was furious, she could barely keep herself from yelling, and some of her anger slipped into her voice. "Do you want to end up like your Aunt Cindy? With four kids in a trailer park? She broke my mother's heart. I will not let you break mine."

"Oh, so now this is about you?" Marissa was fuming, she couldn't believe her mother.

"Marissa, please, keep your voice down" Julie reverted back to her calm and controlled tone "And no, sweetie. It's about you. And the kind of future you think you can have."

"Mom! I'm 21!" Marissa's voice was lower, but anyone could see that her anger had not yet dissipated.

"And the choices that you make when you're 21 can affect your entire future. Marissa, Ryan comes from a good family. If you stay with him, you'll always be comfortable." Julie wanted to reason with her daughter, that's why she needed to stay calm. She knew Marissa, if the older woman decided to fight her, Marissa would do the exact opposite of what she was told. Julie knew Marissa was THAT stubborn. The mother knew her daughter enough to see that the best course of action at the moment was to avoid confrontation.

"I'm comfortable now!"

"Take from someone who lived through very bad times, and managed to succeed. Marissa: nothing in life is certain." Julie declared with fake wisdom. "You have to take care of yourself, you have to stay one step ahead of everyone else. You have to be like me, Marissa."

"What does that mean?" Marissa replied, curious, all traces of anger were gone.

"It means that you'll put on a nice dress, do your hair the way you know I like and make up with your boyfriend." With that Julie ended the conversation, she knew she had won. "Now, what else is going on with your life?"

* * *

Alex found the door 83 and knocked. She was leaning back against the wall, waiting and hoping that for some reason Ryan wouldn't open the door. The blonde's hair was still a little wet from the shower. She was wearing jeans and a white blouse with some low boots. Nothing too fancy, the night was gonna be hell either way, but there was no need to provoke it.

The blonde wasn't sure if she was supposed to bring something, so she had taken a bottle of wine that belonged to her father. Mr. Kelly had a passion for wines and made sure to keep some in every house he possessed, just in case. Alex's mother believed it was not such a good idea to keep wine in the apartment with Alex alone in college, but her father had convinced her that Alex was a good girl and would never do anything irresponsible. Besides, he had argued, Alex wasn't much into alcohol; she barely took a sip or two during festivities.

Alex would have to buy another wine to replace the one that she was taking to Ryan's. Actually, she would have to find someone to buy it for her, as she was still 19, but the blonde didn't think she would have much trouble convincing someone to buy her a new bottle. After all, they were in college, and she was sure that both Marissa and Jodie were over 21 years old, the blonde would ask one of them, the one she saw first.

Alex was so deep in her own thoughts that she hadn't seen Ryan open the door. The boy stood in front of her, trying to get her attention by waving his hand in front of her face and calling her name.

"Alex? AAAlex" He had a smirk on his face when Alex finally left her dream world and focused on the present, taking the time to really look at him. He wore a deep blue button up shirt, with the top three buttons undone and hang loose outside his black pants with black shoes. Ryan also wore an Armani perfume that Alex could recognize because she often smelt that on her father. He was unquestionably dressed to impress.

She had to admit, if she wasn't so into his girlfriend, Ryan would have definitely caught her attention.

"Ryan, hey." The girl said nervously, she was beyond uncomfortable.

"Hi, you okay there?" His smirk was still in place and he was standing a little too close for Alex's liking, but she couldn't step back, the blonde was trapped between Ryan and the wall. _Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place._

"Yeah, I guess I just spaced out for a second there." The blonde fumbled with her hair, showing her nervousness. Ryan noticed.

"Something troubling you?"

"No, not really. Just a little tired, I guess. I don't think I'll be able to stay for long." Alex explained, hopeful that she would be able to get out of this early.

"I see. So, come on in. Let's get this evening started." He said, holding her hand as he walked the blonde into his home.

"Okay. So, I brought you this." Alex said, giving him the wine, whishing that he would let go of her hand to take it.

"Thanks, but there was no need." He took the wine with his other hand and pulled her along to the kitchen, where he found two glasses and filled them with wine, handing one to Alex. "But, seeing as it is already here, we might as well drink it."

The blonde girl took a good look at the wine, tilting the glass away from her to check out its color and opacity. And after giving it a little swirl, Alex took another look and then took a quick whiff to gain a first impression, she then followed by her sticking her nose down into the glass to take a deep inhale through her nose. Finally, the girl took a small sip, letting it roll around on her tongue.

"You know your way with wines." Ryan stated clearly impressed.

"Yeah. My father's into them, he taught me something." Alex calmly explained, the wine tasting was something she had been taught ever since she was a child and she didn't even notice doing it anymore.

"Cool. So how about we start this evening with a tour of the house?"

"Okay."

Ryan showed her around, it was more or less the same as her own apartment so Alex wasn't really impressed. She was, however, stunned by how he had decorated the dining room. The table was set with fine white china, and in the background Barry White's 'Just the way you are' was softly playing. The lights were off and candles produced the glow that allowed Alex to see the room.

"I lit them when I heard you knock." He explained, noticing what the girl was looking.

"It is beautiful" Alex had to admit, she was overwhelmed. No one had ever done that for her. This was some kind of romantic dinner.

"I'm glad you liked. Why don't you sit down and I'll get dinner? I left it in the oven so it wouldn't get cold."

"Don't you need help?"

"No, I've got it. Just sit there and I'll be right back."

"Okay" She did as he said, and Ryan pulled the chair out for her and then proceeded to the kitchen to get the food that he had just ordered.

When Ryan came back, Alex was in her seat, playing with her wine glass that was still pretty much full; his had ended while they were still in the kitchen.

"And we have…" He announced, as if talking to an audience in a live TV show. "Steak and salad with some warm, fresh bread, along with baked potatoes. And…" Ryan paused for dramatic effect "Chocolate covered strawberries for desert. But I left the last one in the kitchen for later"

Ryan put the food on the table and helped Alex serve herself. He kept conversation light, asking about her life, her major, her parents. Ryan told her about his job and career and some funny stories about his family, mostly Seth's.

By the time that Alex finished her desert, she had to admit that she had had a good time, even with the awkwardness of having dinner with her girlfriend's boyfriend. _"But is she even my girlfriend?"_ Alex thought.

Once they were done, they took the plates to the kitchen. Alex offered to help do the dishes, but Ryan assured her that he would take care of it later, which meant that he would leave it for his maid to do in the morning.

"Do you wanna dance?" The Temptations' 'My Girl' had just started playing.

"I'm not a really good dancer." She declined.

"Nonsense." Ryan insisted, pulling her body to his, while he wrapped his arms around her body and moved in the beat of the music.

* * *

Marissa stood in front of the elevator. After dinner with her mother, the older woman had driven her to Ryan's apartment. But waiting for the elevator to arrive, Marissa felt confused. She didn't know what to do, should she follow her mother's advice? Or should she try to find out where this thing, for lack of better word, with Alex would go?

When the doors opened, she entered it slowly, dreading the decision that she would have to make. She stopped and stared at the buttons in front of her, trying to make up her mind.

* * *

She let her arms rest on his shoulders as she moved with him. She felt his breath in her ear, and she couldn't help but enjoy it. But when Alex put her hand in his, she thought they were too strong. And his arms and torso were too big, his perfume was too manly. And when he pushed her a little to look in her face, she thought that that those eyes were too… wrong.

And when he leaned in to kiss her, she couldn't help but push him away, untangling herself from him.

"I'm sorry, Ryan, but I can't. I should leave." Alex stated, already on her way to the door.

"No, wait." The boy say, speeding up to catch up to her. "We can talk-" Ryan never finished what he had to say, because once Alex opened the door to leave, they both came face to face with one Marissa Cooper ready to knock.

All three of them stood motionless in shock for a few seconds before Ryan regained his composure and decided to break the ice. "Marissa, what a good surprise."

"Yeah, I thought it would be. What are you doing here?" Ever since the door opened, Marissa had yet to take her eyes away from Alex, which Ryan confused for jealousy over him. Marissa directed the question to Alex, but it was Ryan who answered.

"I asked her to dinner. Remember I told you we should have a dinner, to welcome her here and all. I ran into her today at the elevator and thought it could be tonight." He explained, flawless.

"Now that's cleared, I should go. Goodnight."Alex said, taking advantage of the fact that the elevator that Marissa had gone up still hadn't left the floor. She hated being in the presence of Marissa and Ryan. It hurt, a lot. And it hurt even more to wonder why Marissa had gone to his apartment so late at night when she was supposedly busy with her mother.

* * *

That was it. Hope you liked it.

Please Review.


	21. The Kübler Ross Model

Every year there is a competition between freshmen from different colleges, to make sure they get the school's spirit. Alex is a freshman, Marissa is the sophomore in charged of training the girls soccer team.

Don't own anything.

Thoughts are in italic.

Flashbacks are in bold.

Thanks to bigblusky, .I Talk-2-Evil Little Pixies., miralinda, Dp15 and No need for the reviews.

Really really sorry for the long wait. Actually, this chapther is not done, part of it isnt finished yet, but i decided to post it the begining here due to someone's lack of patience. lol. Its short, but hopefully its better than nothing.

bigblusky, truthfully, i hadnt meant to reveal that part of the story, and i'm still wondering how you found out that something big is about to happen (no, i wasnt refering to this chapter). Seriously, how did you pick up on it? i'm amazed. lol. But the especifics, you will have to wait and see.

.I Talk-2-Evil Little Pixies., i'm glad you liked it, but it is about to make a turn, as somebody already figured out, i hope you like that too.

miralinda, alex giving into Ryan (it did cross my mind to create a relationship between them, along with all the others that already exist, but i figured it was gonna get too complicated, so my official response is)? nah, never. okay, they say never say never. But the possibility of that hapening is almost none.

Dp15, you do know that i was joking right? sometimes i forget that those who doesnt know me might take me seriously. If you are ever in doubt, assume that i was joking, i probably was. Most of my friends do it, and now i have to warn them when i'm being serious. lol. Actually, i was wondering why nobody had comented on that yet. To me it was pretty clear, but before you said it, i was thinking of ways to make it less suble 'cause nobody seemed to pick up on that. Either way, i hope that you like this.

No need, patience is a virtue, one that i was not born with, and seeing that neither were you, this is the begining of the next chapter that i decided to split in two so that you can relax a little bit. lol.

lets stop stalling and get to the chapter, before no need decides she or he have had enough and does something drastic. lol.

* * *

**Chapter 21 – The Kübler-Ross Model**

The Kübler-Ross model, commonly known as the five stages of grief, was first introduced by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in her 1969 book, On Death and Dying. It describes, in five discrete stages, a process by which people deal with grief and tragedy, especially when diagnosed with a terminal illness or catastrophic loss. Kübler-Ross claimed these steps do not necessarily come in the order noted, nor are all steps experienced by all patients, though she stated a person will always experience at least two. Often, people will experience several stages in a "roller coaster" effect—switching between two or more stages, returning to one or more several times before working through it. – Wikipedia

- Denial -

After her conversation with Jodie, Alex had set her mind in talking to Marissa about their situation. She wanted to discuss what they actually were. She had questions that needed answering, like were they exclusive? Ryan aside, of course. Did Marissa ever saw a future for them or was it just for fun? Or how did Marissa actually feel for the blonde?

But after running into the brunette at her boyfriend's apartment, subsequent to said brunette assuring her that she would be having dinner with her mother, Alex decided it was best not to press the issue. At least not for now, she was going to let the tension of that night blow over and then they could discuss their present and future.

Because to Alex there was nothing wrong.

It had been a weird night, she could admit that, and Alex had hated seeing them together. Alex hated even more that Marissa had blown her off to be with him, but Alex knew it was part of the situation she had accepted. Alex had said yes when Marissa asked her to be the other woman, and she did so knowing that there would be moments like that.

Moments that she would have to witness the happy couple together without saying a word.

Alex could get past it, she would get past it. It had been a common occurrence, and it wouldn't change a thing in their relationship. Everything was perfect, and Alex continued her routine like she normally would.

And she ignored the fact that Marissa would not meet her eyes from across the room.

Alex overlooked the reality that her calls to the brunette went unanswered.

The blonde even disregarded the small detail that, for the next week after the night Alex met Marissa at Ryan's apartment, the blonde only saw her supposedly girlfriend on soccer practices and even then the brunette seemed to avoid her.

But there was one thing that she could not simply dismiss. When Alex finally got Marissa alone, the brunette barely acknowledged her, leaving the blonde after no more than a couple of hushed words.

Several times.

- Anger -

That did not sit well with Alex. She had done nothing wrong, why should she be the one being punished? If anything, it had to be the other way around. Alex was supposed to be avoiding Marissa, and the brunette was the one that was supposed to be chasing her.

After all, Marissa was the one that had blown her over for a guy she didn't even care enough to stay faithful to. Why would Marissa lie to her when it came to Ryan, if he was the one she was with only for appearances?

That's what Marissa kept telling the blonde, that it was the blonde girl that she really liked. So, shouldn't Marissa lie to him to be with Alex, and sneak up on her boyfriend to be with her?

Of course, there was no need to advertise the fact that she would be with her boyfriend (ok, in Alex's mind there was no need for the boyfriend to exist, but that is beside the point), but Marissa didn't have to blatantly lie about it.

_Why on Earth would she lie? It seems as if it's just a joke to her._

With that thought in mind, Alex tried to stay away from Marissa, and ignore the brunette. She could say she went as far as being rude to the brunette (something Alex never thought she could do) when they did have to make a conversation, meaning when their coach paired them up together on their practices.

But she couldn't hold on to that for long, and soon she gave in.

- Bargain -

As Marissa stopped answering her calls, the blonde began sending the brunette messages on her cell phone, telling her that nothing was wrong and that they could be sneakier, if Marissa thought someone was suspecting something. Alex wrote to Marissa that she would be nicer to Ryan if that was what she wanted, or not see him at all if that was what the brunette preferred.

And when Alex didn't get a response, she sent several messages asking Marissa what she had done wrong, what she had to change. She continued, telling Marissa that she could find them somewhere else to meet, or even see each other less, as long as they did see each other. Alex offered anything and everything she could think of. Money, presents, special wishes.

But after not getting a response even after offering the brunette a daily supply of her favorite pie, Alex gave up and stopped with the messages.

- Depression -

That was when Alex locked herself in her apartment, not ever going out, and no one ever going in. She lost count of how many unanswered calls she had, or messages on her answering machine, or how many hours Jodie spent banging at her door, yelling at her to open it.

The only outside communication was to her parents, just so they didn't send a search party after her, but even that was kept short.

Alex didn't shower.

Alex didn't brush her teeth.

Alex didn't comb her hair.

Alex didn't even change her clothes.

The only time that she did move was when she couldn't stand her hunger (then she heated a pre cooked meal) and to sit by her door whenever Jodie dropped by. The Latino girl had made a habit of visiting Alex at least once a day, and as Alex didn't answer the door, Jodie would simply stand next to it and tell Alex random things that happened to her.

Alex liked to hear those stories, they were the highlight of her day.

One afternoon Alex was so lost in herself that she found herself eyeing the window with too much interest.

She wasn't sure if a fall of the 6th floor could actually kill her, but that was enough of a wakeup call.

The blonde ran around the house.

She trying to find as many locks as she possibly could, and set them all up on every window she could find. Alex wanted to make it so that it was impossible to open them.

Then, she took all of their keys and flushed them down the toilet, breathing a little easier. Immediately after that, Alex called Jodie, begging for her help, and the Latino girl came faster than Alex would have imagined.

This time the blonde did answer the door.

- Acceptance -

If Alex had had any doubts on whom Marissa would chose given the necessity to take a side, Alex knew now that the brunette's choice was her boyfriend. It had taken Alex a while to get used to the idea.

After all, she liked to believe that her fears were completely unfounded, and Marissa would choose her without a second thought. But that wasn't the case, and Alex realized that she mourned the death of her dream of them being a real couple.

And that's when Alex allowed herself to start dealing with what had happened.

Slowly, Alex began her healing process. First, Jodie was the only one allowed inside her apartment. She saw the locks on the windows, but she never questioned what they were doing there.

She didn't need to ask.

The Latino girl would come every afternoon after work and spend the night at Alex's house, she didn't like the idea of the blonde spending the night alone, and it was not like there wasn't enough room. They would talk, or watch a movie, play a stupid board game, and maybe just be in each other presence.

Jodie began bringing Alex's books and assignments, and copies of Alex's friends' notes from her classes so that the blonde would catch up. She convinced Alex to shower, and clean herself up, and eat at least 3 times a day. She had bought the blonde food that had been almost over.

Eventually, more people were gradually allowed inside the house, and then Anna would come over almost as often as Jodie and the three of them would spend their nights doing silly stuff.

When the time came for her to leave the house, Alex did so by starting slowly. First, she would only go to the market to buy food, then she would go help Jodie move some heavy stuff on the Latino's place (magically, said stuff had disappeared when Alex got there), and walk around the city with Anna by her side.

Finally, Alex decided it was time for her go back to her usual activities. She had to explain to all her professors what had happened (she didn't go into much detail), and most of them understood what had happened and gave her some extra work so that she could make up for all she had missed.

Finally, Alex was getting her life back on track.

And that's when she got the call.

The blonde stared at the screen, seeing what she had desired for who knows how long. 'Marissa calling' it said.

"Aren't you gonna answer it?" Anna asked.

It was everything she wanted, everything she desired for who-knows-how-long, but Alex took a second to think, and she wasn't sure it was a good idea to dive back into that anymore. She still had that day printed on her mind, she had actually considered jumping out of the window, but she had asked for help in time. What if this time she was too late? What if Jodie didn't come? What if there weren't enough locks in the house?

"No." She said, as she rejected the call and put it back in her pocket.

* * *

Yeap, that's it for now folks. I hope you enjoyed it.

i'll finish Marissa's side of things and post as soon as possible.

Please Review.


	22. With or Without You

Every year there is a competition between freshmen from different colleges, to make sure they get the school's spirit. Alex is a freshman, Marissa is the sophomore in charged of training the girls soccer team.

Don't own anything.

Thoughts are in italic.

Flashbacks are in bold.

AN: Thanks to META, bigblusky, saka06, miralinda, .I Talk-2-Evil Little Pixies., nora90, Dp15, lemonfiz1, Black and McDK for the reviews.

META, thanks, I'm glad that you like it. Hopefully you will be able to sit it through the end…. There is still a long way to go

Bigblusky, I think you might just wanna kill me after this…. .:runs away scared:. Its not exactly where you want it to be… but we are getting there, I promise ;)

saka06, not as soon as you would hope… actually, I was hoping this was posted earlier…. Hopefully it will be enough until the next update….. and a brunette, huh? Can I turn her hair purple first? ;)

miralinda, you tell me, is that a good enough of an explanation, or do you still wanna kill Marissa? Lol

. I Talk-2-Evil Little Pixies., I'm glad you liked it…. I didn't even know there was a grief episode…. Lol…. I stopped watching around the time that Alex left…. Trey's storyline was too boring…. I only found out that Marissa had died because I read it somewhere and my sister was the one who told me that the o. c. ended…. Lol

nora90, thanks… im not sure why but the stages of death always interested me (yes, im crazy like that o.0) so I decided to set this up here, it kinda of came out of nowhere…. lol

Dp15, im glad u took it as a joke… u had me worried there for a second…. ;)

lemonfiz1, thank you ;)

Black, I'll finish it, don't worry…. Even if it takes me 20 years to do it…. Lol hopefully it wont…..

McDK, thank you… but I find it surprising that there are no spelling mistakes…. Not an English speaker… so unless Microsoft Word find the mistakes…. They slip by me…. Lol….. Hopefully you wont mind too much when you find them…. And trust me, I have this story thought out until the end…. Now if I could only get into a paper….. maybe a computer is better…. Lol

Some of you commented on a relationship between Alex and Jodie…. It wasn't really on my plans but I already thought where I can set it up…so I'm putting it on a vote…. who wants them to TEMPORARILY be together vote Yes, and the one who doesn't want them together say No. Voting ends at the time when I start to write that chapter, which should be around 3-4 years… so take your time….. lmao

Im joking, but it does end when I start the chapter… but hopefully it will be much sooner…. :D

one last thing, this was supposed to come with the last chapter (you might need to read the last one to remember, i know that i did)... so merge them in your head ;) any questions, feel free to ask...

Okay so… to the chapter….

* * *

**Chapter 22 – With or Without You**

Alex had just left the room, and Marissa didn't know what to do. She had just found her girlfriend having dinner with her boyfriend and the brunette wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel about it. She wasn't sure how she did feel about it. It just didn't feel right.

Marissa felt like she wanted to yell, to cry, to punch someone, all at the same time. She just didn't know who this someone was.

So she just stood there in the middle of the living room, thinking, wondering, lost in her own thoughts.

"Earth to Marissa! You in there?" Ryan said, and suddenly Marissa knew who she wanted to hit. _Ryan._

"FUCK YOU!" Marissa yelled, pushing him. He was caught by surprise by her sudden change in attitude so he stumbled back a bit, but soon regained his footing.

"Excuse me?"

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?"

"Me? What are you talking about?" He was trying to play it as if it was no big deal, like he wasn't almost caught cheating on her. Thankfully, he just figured that Marissa's anger was brought on by jealousy over him, and not over the other blonde.

"YOU WERE HAVING DINNER WITH ALEX." _My Alex_ "YOU WERE ON A DATE WITH HER!" Marisa continued, trying to slap him, but Ryan caught her arms, restraining her.

"Hell, no! That girl is a dike!" After all, what other explanation could there be for her to deny him a kiss?

"WHAT? ! ?" That was enough to stop her. _How does he know? He can't know!_

"Yeah, it's true." Ryan told Marissa, letting go of her abruptly so that Marissa lost her balance and fell on her ass. "I would be careful around her if I were you." Ryan finished looking down at her with his usual air of superiority.

She saw him make his away to his bedroom, but she felt no desire to join him, she didn't even have the energy to get up from the floor. She didn't want to face reality.

* * *

In the morning, Marissa found herself lying down on the same floor that she had fallen down, still with no clue as to what she was supposed to do with herself. Her mother and all her common sense was telling her to patch things up with Ryan, but if that was the right thing, why did it hurt so much to think about it?

She picked herself up and made her way into Ryan's bedroom, but he was nowhere to be found. _Great. At least I don't have to deal with him so early in the morning. _Just as glad that Seth had apparently spent the night somewhere else, the brunette started making herself presentable to get to college.

It was in the afternoon when Marissa first spotted Alex walking somewhere. Her first instinct was to call out to the blonde and make her way to her girlfriend, but Marissa stopped herself. Ryan had already figured out that Alex liked girls, and he had only seen her a couple of times, who's to say that the others hadn't made that connection yet? It was better not to give them something to talk about.

Besides, it was not like Alex cared all that much, she agreed to go on a date with Ryan after all. And that's what pissed Marissa off more. Here she was wondering if she should leave Ryan for Alex, and she goes on a date with him? What kind of sick joke is that?

And to top it off, the blonde had managed to alert Ryan of her sexual preferences. It was just so infuriating. _Why did she have to do that?_

That's when Marissa decided that maybe it was time to take some time off, they shouldn't spend so much time together. First, so that people wouldn't become suspicious of her, and second, so that she could take a breath away from Alex.

It was like the blonde girls was consuming her, and the night before was the first time Marissa felt like she could get burned.

For the following weeks, Marissa didn't see much of Alex, the girl had tried to contact her at first, but she eventually she got the hint and stopped calling. The blonde even became kinda rude, but Marissa figured that Alex would have to deal it herself, whatever the 'it' might be. It was not Marissa's problem, at least not at the moment.

She was busy, Marissa had been trying to talk to Ryan, and come to some sort of understanding between them. Surprisingly it had been working.

And then, there was the messages. Annoying unstoppable messages. Out of nowhere Alex decided to send Marissa a million messages every day. Okay, maybe she was exaggerating a bit, not a million, but a bunch of messages. Asking, begging, crying and whatever else that Marissa got tired of reading.

Couldn't Alex see that they weren't attached to the hip?

That they were allowed to live separated lives?

Couldn't Alex just see that Marissa needed some time to herself, to figure some things out?

Couldn't Alex take the hint and go bother someone else?

Marissa got so fed up with the messages that she just deleted all of them, without even reading it. Actually, she wanted to call Alex and tell her to stop, but Marissa figured that she was at a point that no good would come out of it. That she might say things that she probably would regret later.

Eventually, the messages stopped, and Marissa couldn't be more thankful, now she didn't have to be afraid of someone taking her phone and seeing a message that she just received or that she had forgotten to erase. Marissa was glad, at least at first.

Because suddenly, there were no more messages. Ever.

So, she might have been lying when she said she never read any of the messages. Every once in a while she would agree that she was allowed to take a look or two at some messages before she deleted them. But now she couldn't glance at them, there were none.

And Alex was nowhere to be seen, the brunette couldn't spot her around campus, and Marissa found it weird that the blonde missed so much practices. But apparently Jodie had given the coach some kind of a excuse.

It was like Alex had dropped from the face of the earth, but Marissa pretended that it didn't bother her. She ignored it, like it was no big deal. And that worked, for a while.

Until she saw Alex and 3 of her friends walking down the street. Jodie, Anna, and some guy Marissa didn't know. They were making fun of the one guy that where with them, and Alex was laughing so hard that she had almost fallen to the floor, not that her friends were so much better.

That's when Marissa felt how much she missed her girlfriend. How much she wanted to go over there and talk to her, to kiss her, to take her home and show Alex just how much she had missed her. But she couldn't, they were in public place, and there were people around. She could wait until later.

Later turned out to be a couple of days later, when she finally found the guts to call Alex. She wasn't sure if she was surprised or not that the blonde didn't answer her phone.

But she wouldn't give up, Marissa had to see Alex. She just had to, so she continued calling.

* * *

Alex had ignored that first call from Marissa, but that wasn't the last of the calls she got from the brunette. There was one at least once a day, for at least two weeks. _It was like in the beginning._ Alex thought with a bitter smile.

Eventually, she decided it must be important for Marissa to keep calling. That's what she wanted to believe, the real reason she was answering the phone was simply that she could not stay away from Marissa for too long.

"Hello." Alex said, she could speak freely. She had chosen today to answer because she knew that Jodie was busy, otherwise she would probably yell at the blonde for getting involved in this once again.

"Alex?" Marissa asked surprised that the blonde had answered.

"Yeah."

"Wow. It's been so long that I last heard your voice. Ho- How have you been?"

"Marissa, cut the crap. What do you want?"

Marissa wasn't sure what kind of response she was expecting, but she wasn't sure she expected that.

"Hum… Yeah, I kinda wanted to see you."

"I'm busy right now." She really wasn't, but Marissa didn't have to know that.

"Later then, or tomorrow. Or any other day this week. Or the next. Whatever works for you" The brunette was coming awfully close to begging but she didn't care.

"Can't you just say it over the phone?"

"I really wanted to see you. I miss you. Please?"

"Fine." Alex finally said with a huff. "Tomorrow then" She needed time to prepare for that kind of confrontation, and to give Jodie a excuse to leave her alone for a few hours.

"Great! I'll just come over to your house after my classes tomorrow."

"No."

"What? I thought you just said that I could see you tomorrow?"

"I did, but not at my house. Pick somewhere else." She didn't want to meet Marissa somewhere private, she wanted there to be people around. People that would prevent her from doing something stupid.

Marissa knew she couldn't take Alex to her house, her mother could drop by at any moment. She couldn't pick somewhere too close, and risk being recognized, or too far away, and risk Alex not showing up.

"Okay. Do you know the park up your street? Like three or four blocks up and then you turn right?"

"Yeah."

"Can I meet you there?"

"Fine, I'll see you there tomorrow then." Alex didn't wait for a response; she just hung up her phone.

* * *

The next day Marissa was so nervous that she decided to skip the last of her classes. And there were two reasons for that. She hadn't paid attention to any of her classes that day, and she wasn't so sure when Alex's classes ended. She didn't want to take the chance of Alex getting tired of waiting and simply leaving.

She found herself a bench where she could see most of the park (it was not that big) and sat down to wait for Alex. The blonde showed up a while later. Marissa was the first to spot the other girl and waved so that the blonde could make her way to Marissa.

"Hey." Marissa said, once Alex reached her. She wasn't really sure how she was supposed to greet the blonde but judging from their last conversation she figured that a kiss would not be welcomed. Not that she would do that in a public place.

"Hi."

They sat down, but no one said anything. Alex was waiting for Marissa to tell her why she had asked to meet her, and Marissa wasn't sure how she was supposed to start that conversation.

"You look nice." Marissa tried, but Alex wasn't going to make it easy for her.

"Thanks. So, why did you want to see me?"

"I wanted to talk to you."

"So, talk."

"I - I miss you" Marissa stated, waiting for Alex to respond. Nothing followed, and Alex got tired of waiting.

"You could have told me that over the phone." Alex told Marissa, getting up. "If that was all, I need to get going."

"Wait, no! Please don't go" Marissa said, reaching out to stop her. Marissa's hand on her arm wasn't strong enough to stop Alex from leaving if she wanted, but the blonde decided to sit back down.

"Go on then."

"I know that these last months sucked, but I really like you. I know it doesn't seem like it, but I do like you a lot. I know that it is hard, but can't we just give it another chance?"

"Why, Marissa?"

"Didn't I just tell you that I like you?"

"Not that. I mean, why bother? You and I both know that this isn't going anywhere."

"Don't say that. I know it hasn't been perfect, but just give one more shot, okay? One more, that's all I ask."

"Fine. One."

"Great!" Marissa rushed in to give Alex a hug and it was just then that she realized that her hand was still on Alex. "What about I take you out this Friday?"

"Out?" They always stayed inside when they were together. Maybe something was really changing but Alex was afraid to hope.

"Yeah, you know, dinner and a movie, nothing fancy or anything. Just as friends when we are in public."

"Friday?"

"Friday."

"Okay." Alex just wasn't sure whether she should be disappointed that Marissa didn't seem to realize that Friday was the blonde's birthday.

* * *

Today was Alex's birthday and she had agreed to go out with Marissa that night, now all Alex had to do now was talk people out of taking her to a bar to celebrate her birthday.

"Alex, you are turning 20. It's not everyday that someone completes 2 decades. We HAVE to do something." Johnny said

The group was formed by her usual friends Anna Stern, Zach Stevens, Lindsay Gardner, Kevin Volchok, Taylor Townsend, Theresa Diaz and Johnny Harper. Alex had pretty much fully neglected her friends after she had gotten together with Marissa, and she felt guilty over that. She really did, but there was nothing she could do, she had to see Marissa, give it one last try. Alex was hopeless when it came to the girl.

"I know, I know, but I'm busy tonight." Alex explained, hoping that they would drop the subject, she was running out of excuses to get out of hanging out with her friends "Why can't we do it tomorrow?"

"Oh, come on. How can you be busy on your own birthday?" Volchok asked "It's Friday, it's not like there are any tests or papers to hand in during the weekend."

Most of the time, they left her alone when she told them she couldn't hang out with them, but apparently they were putting their foot down when it came to special occasions. Anna, on the other hand, had stopped trying to invite her to go anywhere completely, and hadn't even bothered to try to convince her to join them. Anna knew that for whatever reason Alex wouldn't.

Anna had been Alex's closest friend, and that was the reason she took it the hardest when all of a sudden Alex first became too busy for her friends. Apparently, Alex was going to take that rout again.

The blonde started coughing, trying to stall as much as possible so that she could come up with something to tell him. She hadn't thought of anything and they were still waiting for her to answer, thankfully she was saved from that by the arrival of Jodie.

"Hey, guys, what's up?" The Latino girl said.

"Nothing much" Theresa said. "We are just here trying to convince Alex to party with us on her birthday, but apparently she has other plans that we can't know" Jodie had figured out immediately why Alex was so reluctant to make plans with her friends, and offered her a way out. Surprising with her understanding posture.

"That thing that the coach put us up to do right, Alex? Today's is your days isn't it?" Alex accepted the help, nodding her head. "Oh! That sucks! Right on your birthday. I guess we will have to do it some other day then."

"So, is it really true? Are you actually busy tonight?" Zach said, amazed. Everyone had believed Jodie's explanation, well, everyone except Anna. They didn't really have any reason to doubt her.

"Yeah" Alex confirmed, she wasn't exactly lying, she was busy, only not with what they thought of.

"Ok, so I guess we can postpone it. But trust me Alex, we are gonna celebrate your birthday in style" Zack conceded, with the agreement of the whole group.

"Yeah, I guess I can live with that" Alex replied, happy to have that matter solved, now all she had to do was go back home and get ready for tonight.

Alex mouthed thanks to Jodie and, after saying goodbye to everyone, the blonde continued her way home. Jodie caught up with her, telling her to be careful before making her way back to their friends.

Once Alex got home she decided to take a shower and make herself presentable for the night. Her clothes had already been chosen, but Alex had kept it simple, she didn't want to go all out. Now, all she had to do was wait for Marissa to show up.

* * *

- A few minutes earlier -

"So, Marissa, what time are you coming over?" Summer asked her friend that seemed to have her head somewhere else. Marissa was trying to figure out if she had everything ready for the night, hoping that she hadn't forgotten anything for her date with Alex.

"Coming over? Are you crazy Sum?"

"Marissa, what would you do without me? You know we need to get ready for Mr. I-don't-know-his-name party later. Ryan and Seth are supposed to represent their parents because they couldn't come. And we are supposed to accompany them."

"What are you talking about? I haven't heard of any party." _Please say that she is wrong. Please say that she is wrong. Not tonight, please, not tonight._

"You sure?"

"Yeah." But deciding to make things clear, Marissa decided to call her boyfriend.

"Hello, baby." The boy said.

"Ryan, are we going to a party tonight?"

"Yeah."

"And when were you gonna tell me about it?"

"Didn't I tell you?"

"NO!"

"Sorry, great thing you found out. So, should I pick you up at 7? Or are you gonna be at Summer's? Cause then you can go with Seth and I'll meet you at the party."

"You can't expect me to go with you now. You didn't even tell me about it. What if I was busy?"

"Well, are you?"

"What?"

"Busy? I mean." _YES!_ Marissa thought, but she couldn't tell him that. She couldn't just tell him that she couldn't accompany him because she had a date with Alex. His so called 'dike'.

"No"

"Then I don't see what the problem is. Women are so dramatic. So, should I pick you up or are you going to Summer's?"

"I'm going to Summer's I guess." Marissa said defeated.

"Great, see you at the party. Bye honey."

"Bye."

"So, Marissa, when are you coming over to my house?" Summer repeated

"Go ahead, I'll be right there. I just need to do something first."

"Okay. I'll be waiting for you." _You are not the only one._

With nothing else to do, Marissa wrote Alex a message saying that she wouldn't be able to come and that she would explain later.

* * *

Alex finally saw her cell phone and realized that she had a new message. She read it and just smiled bitterly. Ever since that night, Alex had learned that when Marissa said that she was too busy to spend time with her, the sentence could be translated as 'I'm spending time with Ryan'.

Tired and annoyed that she had gotten dressed up, Alex decided she wasn't in the mood to do anything else. She was making her way to her bedroom, when she heard a knock on her door.

With a huff, she decided to see who that might be, and was surprised to see Jodie and her group of friends holding what seemed to be several bottle of alcohol, a few bags of chips and some table games.

"Alex! It was so great that you managed to find someone to cover for you with that thing with the coach" Jodie informed her, as the others made their way into her living room. "Now we can get you completely drunk on your birthday!"

"What's going on Jodie?" Alex asked when the others were all inside

"I overheard Marissa and Summer talking earlier. Figured you wouldn't want to be alone."

"Thanks"

"Yeah, don't mention it." The Latino girl said, grabbing Alex by the neck and dragging her to the others. "Seriously."

"Yeah, sure." Alex laughed.

Alex could already see some greasy fingers touch her stereo as Johnny picked a song for them to listen, and there were chips on the carpet and Alex was pretty sure that the dark stain on the couch was tequila. But she would worry about all of that in the morning.

Tonight was her birthday, and she was going to enjoy it.

With or without Marissa.

* * *

And that was it….

I hope you all liked it…. Please don't kill me… ;)

Please review.


	23. The Point Of No Return

Every year there is a competition between freshmen from different colleges, to make sure they get the school's spirit. Alex is a freshman, Marissa is the sophomore in charge of training the girls soccer team.

Don't own anything.

Thoughts are in italic.

Flashbacks are in bold.

Thanks to soulstealer247, bigblusky, theblackbox, .I Talk-2-Evil Little Pixies., Jesse, WonderousPlaceForAnEcho for the reviews. They are awesome. ;)

soulstealer247, I promise she will get better, eventually….

Bigblusky, yay! I got it right! :D but the road to redemption is a long one….

Theblackbox, she will be realizing it all right ;)

.I Talk-2-Evil Little Pixies., okay, so not exactly soon, but its long… so maybe it makes up for it…. And it that case you can tell me how it ended, because I'm not sure if I ever seen it….

Jesse, thank you

WonderousPlaceForAnEcho, I agree with you… but times are changing… attitudes as well….

Okay, guess I didn't make it clear the last time, but Alex will have another romantic interest (probably more than one) and I wanted to know if you wanted it to be Jodie. Because I'm not sure how to add up the responses I got… o.0

So, pool is still running 'Yes' for Jodie, 'NO' for someone else. Tell me what you think.

And, enough with the babbling…. You got a loooong way to go

* * *

**Chapter 23 – The Point of No Return**

Marissa indeed made up for not showing up at Alex's at her birthday. The brunette had picked her up the next evening, and took them to a dinner and a movie.

She had even acted as a complete gentleman, hum… gentlewoman. Marissa had opened doors, pulled up chairs and paid for dinner and any other stuff Alex wanted. Ok, so not exactly a gentlewoman, there might have been some kissing and mild groping at the back row of the movie theater. But Marissa could just tell you it was because the movie was incredibly boring and there was almost no one else in the room.

Never mind the fact that Marissa had already watched the movie beforehand and knew that it sucked.

Afterwards, Marissa drove them back to Alex's place and walked the blonde to her door. That was the first night since Valentine's Day that they spent the evening together and didn't end with them naked screaming each other's names.

Maybe that hadn't been Marissa intention at first, she had been hoping to get invited inside, after all it had been a long time since she had been with the blonde. Marissa had tried to convince Alex otherwise, with kisses and light touches, but the blonde had put her foot down on that matter. Alex just didn't want things to go back to the way they were before.

Marissa left feeling rejected, and a little annoyed, a fact that didn't go unnoticed by the blonde.

They had gone on a few of more dates, and at the end of each one of them they would get a little more daring with their touches. But still, they hadn't gone all the way yet. Alex was afraid that if they had sex, they would go back to whatever they had before they broke up.

_Break up? _The blonde thought one night. _Is it even possible to break up when they weren't even officially together?_

Either way, she liked the pampering and the dating and the talking and walking around with Marissa, even if they couldn't actually act as a couple in public. And Alex was afraid that if she let Marissa have what she wanted, then all of this would end.

* * *

It had come as a surprise one morning, when one body had jumped and fallen down on Alex's bed effectively waking the blonde girl from her sleep. Alex looked around, confused, and she figured she was still asleep when she looked around and saw Bandit, her dog, in bed with her. Alex closed her eyes, not paying her imagination much attention until she heard a voice from the doorway.

"Alexandra Kelly, get up and come give your mother a hug!"

That made Alex lift her head and stare at her mother, her eyes were still a little blurred from sleep. She then shifted her gaze to the alarm clock on her night stand, there was still at least 40 precious minutes before she had to wake up. She didn't have much time to dwell on it, however, when Bandit got tired of being ignored and barked to get her attention.

With a groan, and resigned to the fact that she wouldn't get back to sleep, Alex petted her dog and made her way to her mother.

"Hi, mom." She said, giving the older woman a hug. "What are you doing here?"

"Is this your way of welcoming your mother? I thought I had taught you better than that, Alex." The woman teased.

In her defense, Alex looked sheepish hearing that.

"Sorry. I'm glad that you are here, mom. And you two, Bandit." She completed when it seemed that the dog was getting ready to complain once again.

"Now that's better. Your father had some business to attend here, and I decided to accompany him. And our little friend here" Judith said, referring to Bandit. "would simply not allow us to leave him alone at home."

Alex smiled, pleased to have her family close to her once again so unexpectedly.

"And where is dad?"

"In a meeting. He should be home later when you get back. When do you have to leave for class?"

"I still got time."

"Good, go get ready then, sweetie. There is something I want to talk to you about." The woman said, leaving the room.

"Ok" The younger girl replied, and with a last pat on Bandit's head she made her way into the bathroom to take a shower, and brush her teeth. After deciding she was clean enough, she stopped by her closet and took the first clothes she saw before putting them on and made her way into the kitchen, looking for her mother.

Alex found her mother setting a very nice breakfast table and the younger girl felt it was unnecessary to alert her mother to the fact that she had acquired a habit of skipping breakfast altogether, ever since Marissa spent the first night at her house. But her mother didn't need to know that, especially because it would result in a 20 minute speech as to why it was unhealthy to do so. So Alex just sucked it up and sat down besides her mother and started to eat the strawberries that her mother had set on her plate.

"What did you want to talk to me about, mom?" Alex asked, fearing she would have to attend some glamorous party with her parents. She had nothing against them, but they were usually so boring that the blonde avoided them whenever possible.

"I was talking to you father the other day and we have come to the conclusion that we missed you terribly."

"I miss you too, mom. I wish I could see you two more often." Alex made sure to smile at her mother when she said that. She knew it was really difficult for the woman, Alex was her only child and, prior to this, the woman had never left her side as Judith didn't work. They had been really close ever since Alex was born.

"I'm glad you feel this way, honey."

"Of course, I do, mom. There is no way that phone calls could replace actually living with you"

"Trust me, you are preaching to the choir, sweetie. And that's why we feel that it would be best if you came back to California." Alex took a deep breath after her mother said those words, thinking that the woman was making some kind of a joke. Realizing that her mother wasn't about to take that back anytime soon, Alex decided to react.

"I-I can't, mom. I'm in college. I can't just pack up and leave."

"Alex, that's not what I was suggesting. What your father and I were talking was that you transfer to Berkeley. It's an excellent university and it is closer to our home. We would be able to see each other more often." Judith explained with a smile on her face, willing her daughter to agree with her.

"That's… nice." Alex replied, not really meaning it, but also reluctant in disappointing her mother.

"It is, and as it is the end of your semester, you can just start a new one there. I'm so excited about this." It was true and Alex could see it in her mother's face, which was the reason why her only response was a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "But we can talk about this more later. Don't you have classes to attend?"

Alex looked at the clock, actually it was still early, but she needed to get out of the house for a while.

"Yeah, I do. See you later, mom." The younger girl said, getting up. She made her way towards the front door.

"Ok. Love you, honey."

"You too, mom." Alex said, as the door closed behind her.

The blonde leaned against the door outside her apartment. _What am I going to do?_

Alex couldn't just say no, they were her parents, and she loved them. The blonde didn't want to disappoint them by telling them she didn't want to live near them. Alex loved them after all. But at the same time, a part of her refused to leave the city she had come to think of her home.

Confused and scared, she searched her back pocket for her phone. The search took 5 minutes longer than it should have due to her shaking fingers. Finally, with it on her hand she called the number she already knew by heart.

* * *

Marissa was not far from Alex when her phone started ringing, actually, she was just a few floors above the blonde, but there was no need for her to know that. The brunette had spent the night at her boyfriend's place and was currently getting ready to leave, as was he.

She was still putting on her shirt and that's why when her phone started ringing, Ryan was the first to reach it. He looked at the screen and saw what was written. 'Alex Calling'. Ryan stared at it until Marissa made her way towards him and took it from his hands.

"Dyke Alex?" He asked. Ryan had picked up calling her that ever since the incident on his apartment where he and Alex almost got caught on a date by Marissa. It seemed it was his way to remind Marissa that he wasn't really cheating.

"Yeah" She said, nodding, distracted by wondering what reason the other girl would have to be calling her this early. Marissa realized her mistake as soon as it drowned on her what Ryan had asked and she ignored the call. She could have just told him it was another Alex, one that he didn't know, one that didn't draw suspicious to their… arrangement.

Not too long after, the phone started ringing again.

"I have an important dinner tomorrow and I need your help to find me something to wear." Ryan told her, as she ignored the call.

"Wear? Don't you have like a bunch of suits to wear?" Marissa asked him, feeling her phone starting to vibrate once again in her hands.

"Why does she keep calling you? And this early?" Ryan asked, suspiciously. At least, in Marissa's opinion.

"How should I know? She just likes to bug me sometimes, I guess." Marissa said, trying to appear indifferently, afraid that she was failing.

"Be careful, she might have a big lesbian crush on you." He said, teasingly. That had Marissa frozen in her spot as she ignored the call once again.

"Don't be ridiculous, I barely speak to her at all." She finally said. Marissa was starting to feel annoyed by Alex's behavior, couldn't the blonde just understand that she was busy right now and couldn't answer the damn phone?

"Yeah, well, you never know with these people. So, are you gonna help me or not?"

"I still don't understand why you can't just pick whatever in your wardrobe like you always do." Marissa replied, she really didn't want to spend any time doing so, and she was trying to think of whatever reason to get out of it. Not the shopping exactly, that she didn't mind, it was more the Ryan part of the deal.

"Well, it's a really important dinner, and there are quite a few people I need to impress. Trust me, I'm this close to getting a promotion." He told her, bringing his thumb and index fingers together, making it so as there was almost no space between them. "Unless, of course, you would rather spend your time with Dyke Alex." Ryan continued, with his obnoxious smirk, noticing that her phone was once again ringing.

Marissa ignored the call. _Again._ She thought, and cursed Alex and the fact that she would have to do this with Ryan in her mind.

"I would love to help you, Ryan."

"Great, I'll pick you up after your last class and we can go together from there. I know this place close by that should still be open by then."

"Okay, I'll see you."

"Ok. Bye." He pecked her on the lips, before Marissa made her way towards the door and opened it, giving him a last wave before closing it after her. Ryan still had a few minutes before he had to leave.

And then her phone started ringing. Marissa considered answering it this time, but she was just so annoyed by Alex's insistence that she ignored the call out of spite.

_She needs to learn how to wait. If I'm not answering, I'm clearly busy. She has to deal with that. _Marissa thought as she entered the elevator, not knowing what the girl was going through just a few meters away from her.

Her phone had been changed to silent, after the first time it rang (loudly) during class. There had been so many phone calls that Marissa didn't even bother to check before she ignored it. She knew they were from Alex.

And really, did the blonde girl really expect her to answer the phone during class? Ok, so it was not like she had never left the room to take a phone call, but Marissa just thought that they were in need of some boundaries.

By the end of the day, Marissa had gotten a message from the blonde, which she decided to check, considering that Alex had stopped calling. 'I really need to speak to you today. It's really important. Please. Pick up the phone.' To which, Marissa only responded with an 'I can't. Sorry. Busy.'

* * *

Alex hadn't been to any of her classes that day. She knew that after all the time she had missed, Alex really couldn't afford to miss any more classes. But her mind was running too fast for it to be productive.

Alex didn't know what Marissa could do to make this situation better, all she knew was that she needed to talk to her. But the girl was not picking up the damn phone.

Because, you see, it was one thing for Alex to think they had absolutely no future when they were living in the same city. There was always that possibility that Marissa would prove her wrong, that they would have time to do it all over.

It was another thing completely thinking they had no future together when she lived on the other side of the freaking country.

Alex had been roaming around thinking of ways to get a hold of Marissa (the blonde considered going to the brunette's place, but she didn't know where that was) when she saw the girl enter a store with her boyfriend.

For a moment she felt her blood start to boil, and forgot why she wanted to talk to Marissa in the first place. Ever since the night in which Ryan had invited her for dinner, hurt wasn't the only feeling that went through Alex every time she saw or heard about Marissa and her boyfriend together. No, after that, it was accompanied by anger and the very strong will to punch something.

Alex took deep breathes to regain her temper and stared at the store again. It seemed big enough, she would enter, making sure that Ryan didn't spot her, find Marissa and get the brunette to talk to her, then they would figure out a way for Alex to stay. The plan was perfect, its execution, however, was less than desirable.

Alex managed to slip into the store without Ryan and Marissa being alerted to her presence, so she made herself blend in with all the displays and clothes hanging everywhere, closing in on the couple, and waited for her chance to get Marissa away from Ryan.

But it never came!

They were always together, Ryan was always pulling Marissa somewhere or the girl was telling him to come see something, but, for Alex annoyance, they were never more than 5 freaking feet apart. The time was running out and Alex was tired to stand around waiting for Marissa to untangle herself from her boyfriend.

Finally thinking that enough was enough, Alex called Marissa once again with the intent to tell her girlfr- whatever to find the store's bathroom.

Marissa had been distracted with finding Ryan something to wear, and having thought that Alex's calls had stopped, at least for the day, as she hadn't gotten any more of them after the messages, so the brunette didn't immediately ignore the call on her phone. Instead, she took it out of her pocket and looked at the screen, wondering who was calling her.

She stared at the screen 2 seconds too long, because Ryan decided to peak over her shoulder to see who was calling his girlfriend.

And that's where it all went to hell.

"Why is Dyke Alex still calling you?" The boy asked, loud and clear for anyone around to hear. Alex certainly did, and she frowned as she got closer, making sure she was able to hear what Marissa would say to that. She wanted to believe that the girl would defend her.

"How should I know?" Marissa said defensively. "Maybe she does have that creepy crush on me. I guess it would be a bit of an awkward situation."

"Disgusting." Ryan breathed out.

Alex had to tell herself to stand still and not jump in the middle of the conversation and start yelling at Marissa and Ryan. _Who are they to talk about me like that?_

"Yeah, well, whatever."

"Can't she get a hint?"

"Apparently not." She responded quickly, trying to think of other things to say, she was eager to get off this subject. The blonde girl was seeing red at this point.

"It would be cute if it wasn't so pathetic" The boy sniggered, and unsurely Marissa joined him. It was her voice that echoed in Alex's head.

* * *

The blonde had been froze on her spot, staring to where Marissa and Ryan had been, long past they were gone. She could recognize the truth in Ryan's statement, even if it wasn't in the way that he meant.

Her phone was telling her that Marissa had once again ignored her call, but it wasn't until it crashed on the floor that Alex realized that she was standing in the middle of a store staring into nothing and that people had started to look at her funny.

As fast as she could, Alex picked up its remains on the floor and rushed out of the store.

She made her way home, trying to make herself presentable for when she met her parents. They couldn't know what had just happened. They wouldn't know.

Alex opened the door to her apartment and walked slowly towards her bedroom, she hoped she could get to her shower before anyone noticed that she was there. Like the other, this plan also didn't work. Bandit heard the door being opened, so he ran towards its owner, and jumped on Alex, trying to lick her.

"Okay, boy. Calm down. I'm here." Alex told Bandit, caressing him. The anger that had been building inside of her was turning into something else and it hurt.

"Alex, you are home" Nicholas, Alex's father, said once he heard Bandit announce Alex's arrival. The man made his way towards his daughter and pulled her into a hug. "I missed you so much, Alex."

"I missed you too, dad." The younger girls said, trying to prevent a tear from falling. It wasn't just tonight's events, Alex kept replaying in her mind every single interaction that she ever had with Marissa, she could see herself bow at the brunette's every whim. Why did she bend every time Marissa asked? How could she let Marissa dominate her like she meant nothing? Why would she love a girl that treated her like a piece of meat? There had been more than enough times when Marissa proved exactly what she wanted from her. It all came crushing down on her. _When did I become so pathetic?_

She figured she wasn't really successful at hiding her emotions because once her father let her go, Nicholas looked at her with concern.

"Alex, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." She said, rubbing her face in an attempt to clear out her tears and hide her emotional instable state. "I'm just glad that you are all here. Let me take a quick shower and I'll be right back."

"Okay, we will be waiting right here." Nicholas said, as he watched her go. He turned and came face to face with his wife and shared a look of unease with the woman, who had just entered the room.

Alex made a beeline to her bathroom, locking the door behind her. She barely had time to discard her clothes before the first sobs took over her body. The blonde quickly turned the water facet on, letting her emotions take over and hoping that the water could muffle her cries.

* * *

The shower took longer than Alex had first anticipated. Every time she thought she was done crying, a new wave of tears would come down on her face and she would be back to trying to reign her emotions. Finally, when she considered herself dry out of any tears, the blonde turned off the shower and got herself ready to meet her parents on the living room.

Her father was sitting at the dining room table, reading some papers, as her mother cooked dinner. It was good to have someone else to cook for her, just so she didn't have to do it every night.

"Alex" Her father said, once he spotted her. "You look better. How are you feeling?"

Alex walked slowly towards her father and took a seat beside him, as he took his reading glasses off.

"I'm good, dad." _And apparently, I'm also learning how to lie._

"That nice to hear. Is there something bothering you, honey?"

"No, I guess I was just a little stressed out. Nothing a good shower can't solve."

"Alright, then. So, I was talking to your mother and she told me she already spoke to you about our idea."

"Yeah, she did."

"And…"

"And, what?"

"Well, how do you feel about it?"

"I don't know, I guess it's a nice idea. I can go to college and I can see you two more often." _Besides, there is no reason for me to stay here. There never was._

"I'm glad you feel that way, your mother will be so excited." Her father said, pulling her in for a hug_. _

_This was it, why should I stay here for a girl that didn't even care to correct her boyfriend when he called me a 'Dyke', when I have two loving parents on the other side of the coast? Besides, I don't even know if I'm homosexual. As far as I know, I'm just attracted to Marissa. Does that mean I'm like Marissasexual or maybe Coopersexual?_

"Dinner's ready" Her mother called from the kitchen, pulling Alex back from her musings.

"Alex" Her father said, before she could get up. "I need you to take these papers to someone from the administrative building for the transfer. I'm sure anyone there can take it from there. I already spoke to my friend at Berkeley, once we get these papers ready, it's all set." Nicholas finished, handing her a large envelope.

"Ok, I'll do it tomorrow, daddy."

"Great, so let's eat. I'm hungry."

* * *

It was easier said than done, however. That could be proven by the fact that Alex was sitting in the same bench for the last 30 minutes, trying to get the courage to go inside and hand in the damn papers. She was pretty sure that she would have to sign some of them too.

"You know, it's not gonna move, no matter how long you stare at it." Jodie said from behind her. "I tried. And if I can't do it, you certainly can't."

"What?"

"The building, it's not gonna move, unless of course you are trying to set it on fire. That I could help you with, and we can say it was all your pretty eyes that did it. What are those?" Jodie said referring to the papers on Alex's hands. The girl had jumped the bench and took a seat beside the blonde, as she chewed on her chocolate bar.

"My parents want me to move to California."

"Funny." Jodie said, but at Alex's serious look she continued. "You are not joking"

"These are for the transfer. I'm going to Berkeley."

"No! You are my best friend. You can't leave."

"It seems that I am."

"Alex, you are old enough to make your own decisions. You can't just let your parents push you around like this."

"Who says that they are pushing? Why would I want to stay?"

"What do you mean why should you stay? ! ? I thought you liked it here." Jodie said surprised and not so slightly hurt.

"Marissa said that I was pathetic." Marissa stated like that explained everything and Jodie understood. Any other person would just call her crazy "Actually, Ryan said it, Marissa just agreed."

"Marissa is just a bitch! You can't leave because of her."

"Don't tell me what I can or can't do! You don't know how it feels!" Alex yelled, but it wasn't enough to get a rise out of Jodie.

"I can't tell you what to do, but I know how you feel."

"I know that you think you do, but you really don't."

"I know, Alex. I dated Summer." Jodie said softly, in that voice that showed Alex that the girl sitting beside her wasn't invincible. The girl had her eyes fixed on the building ahead, like she was reliving it.

"What?"

"We met on our first day here. She was this little princess complaining about having to practice sports and I was this mean girl teasing her about it." Jodie told her reverently and Alex knew that she wasn't over the short girl.

"I'm sure you enjoyed that very much"

"For a while yeah, well, and then one night, for some reason I don't really remember, we stayed behind after practice and we ended up without a lift back, so we decided to walk back to campus together. By the time we got there, I had already convinced her I was really hot and that she really should go out with me."

"After all, who could resist your charm?"

"Exactly!"

"You are so full of yourself"

"Well, I got the girl, didn't I?" Jodie said, with a sad smile.

"I suppose"

"We dated for a couple of months, in secret. Best freaking months of my life. But it couldn't really last, I knew it, but I guess I didn't want to believe it. People started to wonder why she never went on dates with the really hot guys that asked her out, those useless wastes of space. I told her she didn't need them, that we were fine together and other people really didn't matter. But she decided she needed a cover boyfriend, and I wasn't about to let her go out with that guys, so we decided it would be a good idea for her to date Seth Cohen. He would serve as a nice beard for her, and I really didn't feel treated by the skinny boy. I mean, have you seen him? And in the beginning, it was really funny, she would go out with him and then she would tell me all they did together, and I would tell her how could I have done it better."

"Considering that she is still dating him, it really didn't work that way." But Jodie ignored that, Alex figured it must have hurt to talk about that.

"It was fine, until I realized that the joke was on me. She was spending more time with him than with me. He was the one she would call when she had a flat tire not me, and not like Seth Cohen was any help with a flat tire, but whatever. He became the real boyfriend and I was nothing but her mistress. The one she hid from everyone else, as she paraded way with her new shinny boyfriend." That was said with so much disgust that it scared Alex. "I really wasn't gonna accept that, and I didn't. We got in one fight after the other, usually ending with me asking her to dump him, and her telling me that she didn't care about him and there was no need to do any dumping. I don't know how many times we broke up and got back together during that time. I only know that one day I realized that I couldn't take it anymore, and we haven't spoken since."

"I had no idea."

"Its okay, no one does. She never told anyone, and neither did I." Jodie turned to look at Alex, for the first time ever since Summer's name had been mentioned.

"Why didn't you warn me?"

"Warn you?"

"About Marissa."

"Would have listened to me if I told you to stay away from her?" Jodie responded with an eye roll. "Besides, I couldn't really be sure that she wouldn't be different. I mean, Marissa could have picket you instead of Ryan"

"I didn't exactly tell her to choose"

"How can you be sure then?"

"I just am."

"If you say so. But my point was if I can survive without Summer, you can survive without Marissa, don't let what happened with her make you run from us"

"It would just be easier to move away."

"It would. But think of everything else you would be giving up along with her. Me, Anna, Johnny, and everyone else. Soccer, basketball. The actual teams, I know you like the girls. The Campus."

"I would miss it all."

"Then stay, Alex. We care about you too, you know. Marissa aside, don't you like living here?"

"I do, very much."

"Stay, Alex." This was as close to begging that Jodie was ever gonna get.

"I'll talk to my parents. I'll see what I can do."

"Great, do you want me to be there with you?"

"Nah, I am old enough to make my own decisions. I can't just let my parents push me around like this" Alex repeated Jodie's earlier words.

"Okay, then."

"So, I'm your best friend, huh?" Alex teased as they started walking together, away from the discussed building.

"Shut up" Jodie replied, hooking her arm on Alex's neck, but Alex knew there was no real bite in her tone.

* * *

Alex had walked inside with the envelope her father had asked to hand in, in the middle of her books, in an attempt to postpone what she was going to tell them. She didn't know how to say what she was going to say. That's the reason she was still hiding out in her room, staring at an envelope in front of her.

She knew that she couldn't just hide out forever, so she made her way to meet her parents dragging her feet.

Her parents were sitting on the living room together, curled up in one another, watching TV and that made her pause for a moment. Alex wanted to find someone like that, a companion for the rest of her life. Someone she could rely on.

"Mom, dad, can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Of course, sweetie. Come here." Judith said, muting the TV. "What's the matter?"

"I am not sure how to say this, but…" Alex said, as she walked towards the sofa opposite from her parents and sat down.

"Aren't those your transfer papers, Alex?" Her father asked.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. Mom. Dad. I don't think I can- No. I don't think I want to do this." The younger girl told her parents, handing back the envelope her father had given her.

"Oh" Her mother said, and Alex could see the disappointment in her mother's eyes.

"Are you sure, Alex?" Her father asked.

"Yes. I mean, I missed you guys like crazy, and I'll still miss you. But I think I need to say here for a little while." Judith sat down besides Alex and pulled her in a hug "It's not forever, mom." Alex whispered to the woman who had small tears in her eyes.

"I see." Her father continued, from his place on the other couch. "It's hard for us to see that you are growing up, Alex. We don't want to lose you."

"You won't, dad, I promise. I love you." Alex said.

"We love you too, Alex." Her parents replied at the same time, but it was her mother that continued. "And we will have your bed ready for any time you change your mind."

* * *

Alex hadn't seen or heard of Marissa ever since the day on the store, which had been two days previously, and she wasn't complaining. Marissa was not her concern anymore. Yeah, right.

The door bell rang and in a silent agreement with her parents, Alex got up and made her way towards the hallway to answer it. After all, she was the only one who could be getting any visitors in this city.

When the door opened to reveal Marissa, Alex didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She did neither, just trying to close the door once again. She would just tell her parents that someone had gotten the wrong apartment. Her action was stopped by Marissa setting her foot in front of the door, preventing it from closing.

"You wanted to talk, let's talk." The brunette said, pushing, trying to get inside, but Alex held her ground.

"Fine." Alex said, opening the door just enough for herself to get past, as she pushed both of them outside and closed the door behind her.

"So, what was so important that you couldn't wait to talk to me?" Marissa asked, she was feeling a little weird out by having this conversation outside the apartment, but most of Alex's neighbors had already seen her in lingerie; there was nothing more that could make her embarrassed of them. Besides, they were really freaky.

"My parents wanted me to move back to California" Alex replied, coldly, trying to remind herself that Marissa didn't know that Alex had overheard her conversation with Ryan.

"What? ! ? ! ?" The sentence came as a blow to the brunette's stomach, and there was only thing going through her mind. _NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!_

"You heard me."

Marissa was trying really hard to keep her cool on this situation, she couldn't lose it, otherwise she wouldn't be able to find ways for Alex to say, but the blonde's calm was really starting to get on her nerves.

"How can you be so freaking calm about this?" It was a question, but to Alex it seemed more like a statement. Either way, she decided to answer.

"I already had enough time to freak out." She refrained from continuing with a 'while you were ignoring me' but the other girl got it all the same.

Marissa accepted the answer with a nod, and then she took a deep breath, and started pacing around the room. Alex had her arms crossed, as she leaned against the wall beside her door.

"And what did you say?" Marissa asked, finally stopping in front of the brunette.

"What?"

"What did you say to your parents? Are you really going?" Marissa repeated, she needed to know with what she was working with. She hoped that she wouldn't have to convince Alex to stay, but from the blonde's attitude, Marissa was beginning to think that it wasn't the case. She also needed to know how far the blonde's parents were willing to go to take Alex away. What would be enough to convince them that the blonde needed to stay?

She was even thinking in an alternative plan. _How difficult would it be to have a long distance relationship?_

"I need to know" Alex said, not giving anything away, and completely confusing the brunette. That was nowhere near the answer she was expecting to receive.

"What?"

"Jodie said it was always better to know, I didn't believe in her. But now, I do. I need to know."

"What does Jodie have to do with anything? And, again, what?"

"Leave him."

"What?" Marissa thought for a moment that her responses were getting slightly repetitive, but she let it go. Something told her that there were more important things being discussed than how many time she used some word in a conversation.

"Leave Ryan." Alex whispered, quietly, coldly and looking directly into her eyes.

Marissa was shocked, she knew they would get to this at some point, but she hoped it was later rather than sooner. She wasn't prepared for this.

"How-Wha-I ca-If-Who-Wh-" Marissa stopped, she was stuttering. She really shouldn't be stuttering in a time like this. "No!"

"I thought you might say that" Alex nodded with a sad smile from her position by the wall, she wasn't even going to argue that decision.

That annoyed Marissa. W_hy ask a question like that, if she already knew the answer?_

"Why ask it then?" Marissa knew that she had asked that louder than she should have, but she was starting to lose it. _This conversation really should be happening inside._

"Because I needed to be sure. I needed to know." Alex's voice was deadly calm, and that scared Marissa, because she feared she had just sent the other girl to the other side of the country. "But you know, I still don't get it."

"What don't you get?" Marissa asked, still afraid. She needed to make Alex understand, she couldn't leave Ryan.

"How can you still be with him?" Alex asked, untangling her own arms. But, she didn't give Marissa any time to answer before continuing "He cheats on you! Everybody talks about it, everybody knows it. I know it! YOU! YOU FREAKING KNOW IT! HOW THE FUCK CAN YOU STILL BE WITH HIM?" Alex was already yelling by the end of her tirade, but she didn't care. She didn't have anything else to lose. Somewhere in her brain, it registered that there was something running down her face, but she was just too pissed to care.

"YOU ARE LYING! DON'T LIE JUST BECAUSE YOU WANT ME TO BREAK UP WITH HIM!"

"I AM NOT! AND WE BOTH KNOW IT! HE IS CHEATING ON YOU AND YOU DON'T EVEN CARE!" Alex stopped, fumbling with her arms to clean her face from all the tears. She really wasn't being successful. "How can you still be with him?" She asked again, softly, this time. She was defeated.

Marissa ignored the question, walking closer to Alex. She grabbed the blonde's arms, and pulled them together. Marissa put Alex's arms around her waist and put her own around the blonde's waist. She let her foreheads touch and her noses graze. Somewhere in her mind, Marissa remembered that they really shouldn't be doing this where anyone could walk in, but for the first time she didn't care.

"We can make it work, Alex. I know we can." Her voice was breaking, but Marissa couldn't allow it to happen. She needed to show confidence so that Alex believed in her.

"No, we can't." Alex sobbed. She was still shaking her head NO when she felt Marissa's lips on hers. Her first instinct was to pull back, but she couldn't. Alex loved those lips, she adored the sensations it brought her. So, she just pulled the brunette even closer and kissed back.

"Yes, we can" Marissa said against her lips. She could feel the dampness on Alex's face and the desperation in the blonde's actions. Marissa opened her mouth, allowing Alex's tongue entrance. Their hands were always moving, touching everywhere. It was like they were trying to remember every inch of each other. For Marissa, it felt like the moment she stopped touching Alex, she would never be allowed to do it again.

"Oh, God!" Came a voice from Alex's doorway making the blonde detach her lips from Marissa's and turn around.

"Mom, wait! I can explain" Alex tried, but the door had already been closed on her face. The blonde turned again, in time to watch Marissa backing away from her.

"I'm sorry, I need to- I need to"

"You should go" Alex finished calmly, with a calm that she wasn't really feeling, what Marissa wanted to say. She watched as the brunette frenetically pressed the elevator button until its doors opened. Marissa entered the elevator, making sure to keep her back to the blonde. Marissa realized that the wetness in her cheek wasn't just from Alex's tears when she heard the blonde's last words. "No, we can't"

And then, the elevators doors closed.

Suddenly, Alex realized that it didn't make much of a difference to think they had absolutely no future whether they were living in the same city or in the other side of the country.

* * *

Alex didn't know how long she stayed still, staring at the elevators doors, too afraid to go inside and face her parents. Eventually, she wiped her eyes with her blouse and walked back to her apartment with a heavy heart.

Alex walked in to find her mother sitting in living room, with her face between her hands and her father pacing in front of her. They both looked at Alex when they noticed her presence, but the only one that seemed happy to see her was Bandit, that had ran to meet her and was currently waggling his tail in front of her. Instinctively, Alex started to caress him, while she waited for her parents to say something.

"Is it true?" His father finally asked, barely being able to look at her. Her mother stayed quietly, looking at the table in front of her.

"Dad, I- I loved her, I think." If they caught the use of past tense, they didn't show.

"But, how? Why?" His questions didn't make much sense, and he didn't even seem to be talking to Alex, it was more like he was mumbling to himself. "I don't understand"

"I don't either, dad." She pretended not to see his wince when she called him 'dad'. "I didn't plan it, I swear. I just- I just couldn't help it."

"You CAN ALWAYS help it! Life is not a feeling, life is a decision."

"I know. I didn't mean for it to happen" Alex felt her eyes start to water once again. _Hasn't this day been enough of an emotional roller coaster already?_

"I heard some yelling." Her mother said, not moving from her spot and Alex wondered if the woman was even listening to the conversation. "So, I went to check." Her eyes were devoid of any focus.

"Ho-How long?" Alex considered this. Was her father asking how long she started to have feelings for Marissa, how long they started hooking up together, or how long they started, for a lack of a better term, dating? For some reason she figured it was best not to ask that question.

"A few months." There. It was vague enough not to be a lie to any of the possibilities. Besides, Alex doubted that he actually cared exactly how long this thing with Marissa had been going on.

"I jus- Why? Didn't we give you everything you wanted? Didn't we love you enough?"

"Yes, you guys gave me everything. It wasn't your fault."

"Then, WHY? WHAT DID WE DO WRONG?"

"Nothing, dad, nothing."

"I can't. I'm sorry, I just can't look at you, Alex. You have enough money to live, you are not my responsibility anymore" He trew his hands back, like he was giving up.

"Dad, what are you sa-"

"Alex, get out!"

"Please, dad, don't do this. Mom, I'm sorry, mom. Please." But her mother didn't move, she continued to stare at the table in front of her as she had done for the entire duration of that conversation.

"GET OUT, ALEX!" He repeated. The only one to defend her was Bandit that barked at her father for yelling at its owner.

She stared at her father for a few minutes, whishing he would change his mind. But when she saw the tears falling from his eyes, with the same determination look on his face, Alex knew there was no away around it. She picked up her purse from the floor, threw the keys to the apartment on the table her mother seemed to now adore and walked to the door with Bandit following her.

The dog walked with her up to the door, but when she opened it, Alex told him to stay.

"Trust me, boy. You are better off here." She told her dog, as she kissed his head. Alex had a few dollars on her pocket, her documents, her credit card (which was basically the only thing she owned at the moment that was worth anything) and the clothes on her body "I hope to see you again someday, Bandit." Alex said, and if his barking meant anything, he agreed with her.

* * *

Alex felt numb as she walked out of the building. This could possibly be the worst day of her life, and she had no idea on how to begin to go about it.

She had nowhere to go, and quite frankly, she had no desire to go anywhere. So she just sat down on the sidewalk of her building, not really caring to who would see her there. Her face must have been covered in tears, her eyes were probably red and her hair should be a mess. But she couldn't care less. Let them stare at her if they wanted.

Alex felt a body sit down beside her, but she didn't turn to see who it was, not even when it started talking.

"I got a call from Marissa today. You know, I think I can count on one hand all the times Marissa and I ever spoke on the phone. She told me to get my ass down here. I really am not into taking orders from her, but I made an exception just for you"

"I really don't want to talk about her right now, Jodie." Alex could recognize that voice everywhere.

"You look like shit"

"Thanks" Alex answered dryly, her appearance was really the last thing on her mind at the moment.

"What happened?"

"I got kicked out. My parents saw me with her."

"Ouch!" Jodie said, putting her arm around the blonde's shoulder "Did you at least earn it?"

"What?"

"Well, when my parents caught me with a girl, let's just say that they saw her uterus" Jodie told Alex with a smirk, which earned her a light slap on her belly.

"Just so you know, we were both fully clothed."

"Take the fun out of it, will you? Anyways, let's go." Jodie told her, getting up. She then proceeded to pull Alex up with her.

"And where exactly are we going?" Alex asked, letting herself be dragged by her friend. But it was not like Alex had anything better to do, anyway.

Jodie was practically holding her up as they walked, as if the blonde was drunk or high, which was not too far from the truth in Alex's mind. She still hadn't come down from the events that happened on this day.

"You can crash at my place tonight. We will see what to do with your ass in the morning."

"Okay" Alex responded, letting her head fall on the valley of Jodie's neck.

* * *

And that was it, I told you it was long. ;)

I hope you liked it.

But i must admit, the Coopersexual joke wasn't my idea, i got it from someone that said Agronsexual... i don't know who came up with it, well, whoever you are... i loved it and i hope you don't mind me borrowing it ;)

Please Review.


	24. Bills, Bills, Bills

Every year there is a competition between freshmen from different colleges, to make sure they get the school's spirit. Alex is a freshman, Marissa is the sophomore in charge of training the girls soccer team.

Don't own anything.

Thoughts are in italic.

Flashbacks are in bold.

Thanks to bigblusky, siege98, miralinda, soulstealer247, yo, WonderousPlaceForAnEcho, dp15, Ace and D for the reviews.

There seems to be some anger going on among most of you…. Lol

don't worry, it will work itself out, at some point….. ;)

and miralinda, I suppose that the answer is both, to both questions…. lol

I would say sorry for the wait, but it had already became expected…. .:blushes:.

* * *

**Chapter 24 – Bills, Bills, Bills**

Alex woke up the next morning with her back hurting and her throat completely sore. She pushed back the covers as one of Jodie's roommates (there were another 3) was walking to the door.

"Hey, you better?" Evelyn, the roommate, said, stopping before she stepped outside.

_Not particularly_

"I guess"

"I hope that whatever happened, it works out for you."

"Thanks" Alex replied, but the other girl was already out.

The blonde made her way out of the couch and inside the kitchen, where she could see Jodie drown herself in a cup of coffee. In her defense, she had stayed up late talking to Alex up until the blonde fell asleep.

"Want some?" The Latina offered while leaning on the counter. Alex joined her.

"No, thanks."

"How are you feeling?"

"Fin-"

"Don't lie"

"I feel like I cried myself to sleep in an awful couch."

"Hey! Don't blame the couch"

"You are right" Alex tried teasing, but Jodie could see that her heart wasn't in it. "Maybe I should blame its owner, considering I've seen her jump up and down on it countless times. And that's probably the reason that I could feel springs all over it."

"Bullshit!"

"We both know that it isn't."

Silence followed as the Latina drank her coffee, neither knowing exactly how to talk about the events that happened the night before. Always one to be blunt, and not in the mood to dance around the subject all day long, Jodie just said the first thing on her mind.

"So, what are you planning on doing about your parents?"

Alex didn't show any hesitancy as she answered the question; however her feelings were contradicting to say the least.

"What can I do about it? They threw me out."

"Don't you wanna try talking to them again? See if they cooled off and thought better about it?"

"No, they threw my out. I'm not running back to them, or to anyone else, anymore. If they changed their minds, they will have to be the ones to come talk to me." That was final. Unquestionable.

"Alright, then. Your call" By the blonde's reaction, Jodie thought it was better not to point out the fact that if her parents wanted to talk to Alex, they wouldn't know where to find her. "I don't want to be the bad guy here, but if you do that, we will have to find you a job and probably some sort of scholarship arrangement thingy."

"I kinda have it more or less covered. At least for a while."

"What do you mean?"

"My father had this crazy idea when I first decided that I wanted to come here for college."

* * *

"**I don't like that you are going to be so distant from us, Alex, but I guess that it's time for you to take responsibility over your own life now." Her father said, but the blonde young girl didn't really like where this was going. "That's another thing your mother and I have been discussing now that you decided to go to the other side of the country."**

"**What are you talking about, dad?" She asked unsure.**

"**We may shelter you a little too much from the world and we think that might not be too good for you on the long run." Her father told her as he set his hand on his shoulder. It was like he was telling her she should be excited about this "Tomorrow morning, I'm going to the bank and I'll transfer money to your account. And with this money, you will have to pay every single one of your expenses until you graduate. And I mean every single one of your expenses: college, clothes, water, electricity, food, anything. It's on you, and you will have to think how much you can spend, so that it lasts until you can make money for yourself."**

"**But, dad, I'm not really good with money." Alex replied, scared that he would actually follow through with his plan. Of course she wasn't good with finances; she had never had to worry about funds a day in her life. **

**She may or may not have been a little spoiled as a child.**

"**I know, and that's exactly why I'm doing this. You want to be treated like an adult; you are going to have to start acting like one."**

* * *

"Okay, so just like that, your father gave you a fortune?"

"More or less. Like he calculated a bunch of stuff and really gave me just enough money for me to finish college. And even so, I would have to do a bunch of investments with the money, and move it around and stuff. He was helping me with it. I'm not really good at that."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

"So, is it enough until you finish it?"

"I'm not sure. Probably not, especially not now. I didn't pay rent; the apartment belonged to my dad. And I can't live there anymore. And, I need new clothes, I don't have any with me. And, there is a bunch of other stuff that I'm forgetting. Besides, I have no idea how to invest the money like my dad did." Alex told her, disappointed. She wasn't sure in what she was disappointed. In her father, for throwing her out when she first started acting like herself. In her mother, for not stopping him. At Marissa, for not being there for her.

At herself, for being different.

"Anyways, that's a start right? We can find you a job and save the money for when what your dad gave you is over. Or I'll lend you what I have. And if it's not enough, we can ask for a loan or something."

Secretly, Jodie hoped that it wouldn't happen, that Alex and her parents worked it out before then.

"Yeah. It's gonna work" Alex confirmed, in a voice showing that she wasn't all that sure.

"Great, now we only have to find you a job, some clothes, and somewhere to live," Jodie said, in a voice that conveyed that finding those 3 small things would be the easiest thing in the world "because as much as the girls like you here, they won't let you stick around indefinitely"

* * *

Jodie was afraid to leave Alex to herself, even just for a few moments, after all that happened earlier in the year. That the reason why (or so Jodie liked to think) that the girls spent the rest of their morning just sitting around in the apartment, watching TV and talking about nonsense. The older of the two thought it was best to keep an eye on the blonde for the time being.

"So, what can you do?" Jodie asked during a commercial break

"What do you mean?" She was startled, the blonde had her mind somewhere else. Somewhere where her parent would accept her and back her up. Where all her problems would be nothing.

"Work. What can you do?"

"Hum… Science projects?" Alex answered, and Jodie rolled her eyes.

"Have you ever worked a day in your life?"

"Not really." The blonde said, confused as to why would there be any other option. "No"

"This just keeps getting better and better."

Hours later, Alex stood in front of Jodie's computer as the Latino girl searched the papers, both trying to find a part time job that would require no experience. They had both found some options but Alex was still nervous. She had never needed a job in her life, she didn't know what she would have to say during an interview, she figured that there would be an interview, that's how her father would hire his staff.

But what questions would they ask her? The most common one she had seen online was: Why do want to work here? Well could she tell them the truth? That she needed the money, or would they expect her to say something along the lines of how much she would want to spend the rest of her life working at McDonald's. She didn't want to work at McDonald's, not even for a day, much less for the rest of her life.

And what would she write on her résumé? Graduated High School? And what else?

* * *

"I've always liked band t-shirts." The blonde told Jodie hesitantly.

They were at the mall, and Jodie had just yelled at Alex after the blonde had told her 'anything is fine' when asked by the Latina what kinda clothes she wanted. Jodie had then proceeded on a speech that Alex was pretty much sure that involved a lot of 'be your own person' and 'have a personality' and 'stop being a freaking pushover'.

The Latino girl then asked the question once again, and had been given the band t-shit answer.

"I knew there was a reason I liked you, Alex." Jodie replied, dragging Alex to a store that would sell just that.

After a few hours of walking around and shopping, Alex stopped suddenly in front of a pharmacy, and stared inside. It took a moment for Jodie to notice that the blonde wasn't beside her anymore. Huffing, she turned around to stand next to her (really-close-to-being-killed-by-an-annoyed-Latina) friend. Hey, her arms were completely full; she really didn't want to change directions if she could help it. She was carrying shoes, tennis, shits, jeans, jackets, a laptop and who knows what else.

"What's so interesting?" Jodie asked finally, and her only response was a finger pointing at the display on the store. "What?"

20 minutes later, they were leaving the pharmacy with a bleacher, some odd looking paint and a form to request a job.

That night Alex died the front of her hair purple.

* * *

A few days later, Alex was making her way to her job for the very first time. Contrary to what she believed, she didn't get a job at McDonald's, apparently they didn't like it if you said you didn't see them in your future.

Alex did, however, manage to get a job at the local fast food place. It was called Drake's, and the blonde thought it wasn't all that bad, considering. The place was clean, not too busy, and could get over her erratic college schedule.

She thought it wasn't all that bad, until she was told that her job would entail dressing up as a stupid, happy-all-the-time giraffe.

She got over it, though, and managed to get the idea of what she was supposed to do, when and where. She was adapting, until a few days into her second week on the job. That was when the meanest of all mean kids (or at least it was in Alex's mind) entered the restaurant.

Alex didn't notice him at first, after all he was just like any kid that she had to deal with at her job. She had to smile at him, wave for a bit and move on to the next. Nothing too hard. And that's what she did.

But the evil child wasn't satisfied, so he followed her and started pulling at her feet, all the while whining that he wanted something. Alex didn't understand what he said, but she figured it was probably the attention that he wasn't getting from his parents, whom were sitting happily at their table on their cell phones.

She tried to be nice, she really did, and then she tried to placate him. Give him a few laughs, but the thing is, Alex wasn't so good with children, she had grown up an only child, after all, and had never had much contact with people younger than her.

Besides, because of the show he was putting up, other people were starting to pay attention, and more children were coming closer. They found funny what the little devil was doing and decided to follow him, pulling and pushing the big happy giraffe.

Alex was clueless to what to do, she had never had to deal with something like this in the short period of time that she had been employed.

She tried her best, but she completely lost. How do you calm a dozen of bored children when they finally got something they could terrify as a pack?

Unsurprisingly, something went wrong.

In trying to get that one evil boy to let go of her foot, she stopped paying attention to her surroundings, and that's when evil boy number two decided it was funny to bite her tail, it didn't exactly hurt, because there was nothing in there, but for a moment she lost her footing, so evil boy number one decided that that would be a good time to give her foot a big nice pulling, which resulted in Alex completely losing any resemblance of balance that she had left.

Alex tried to hold herself up, truly, but she only managed to twirl a little bit, making a even bigger mess knocking a few tables over before she fell. On top of evil boy number one.

Final result: the floor was covered with sandwiches, sodas and milkshakes, some people were looking at her funny, others were annoyed, she had knocked down a few waiters, and some costumers had been splashed with the mess. And last, but not least, evil boy number one had broken his arm and was screaming like crazy.

Alex didn't even have to look at the manager to know that she was fired.

* * *

Alex's second job was at a pet shop. She had to wash and dry the animals. She had had a dog, and got along just fine with him. Okay, she had never had to give him a bath, her mom always paid someone to do it, but how hard could it be? Really?

She didn't last a week.

* * *

Alex had just returned from her third day at UPS, she was 2 hours early.

"Do I want to ask?" Jodie said, from her place on the couch.

"No"

"All you had to do was handle boxes!" But Alex had already gone to Jodie's room, intending on taking a shower.

It was time to look for another job.

* * *

Jodie and Alex stood inside yet another apartment that they were checking out to move in. This one was actually nice, had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen and a small living room. It was close enough to campus, not too bad of a crowd. The only problem was that the rent was slightly higher than they had agreed on after hours of (boring) calculations.

"We could find another roommate. We could make do with that." Jodie commented

"There are only two bedrooms." Alex replied with a 'duh' look.

"Yeah, we would have to share, genius."

Alex looked appalled for a moment, but it didn't take her longer than a moment to get over it. She couldn't afford not to.

"What about when you decide you want company at night?"

"Company? You mean sex?" At Alex's nod, she continued "Are you calling me a whore?"

"Yeah, get over it."

"You used to be more entertaining to tease." Jodie replied, pretending to be disappointed. "You would blush, and stutter and act all innocent."

"Sorry" Alex said, in a tone that she was anything but. "I'll try harder next time."

"Good."

"So, sleeping arrangements…"

"Couch seems comfortable enough." Jodie said, sitting in said furniture "We could agree on a signal. You know, a tie on the door."

"Neither one of us owns ties."

"Completely beside the point."

"Of course, how could I be deterred by such a small detail?"

"Exactly"

"Where are we even going to find another roommate anyway? People won't be back for another month" They were on summer vacation, most of the student body had left the city to spend it with their families. Alex hadn't had anywhere to get back to, and Jodie had stuck around to help her. "And I'm pretty sure that by then, this place won't be available anymore."

"We pay the first month just the two of us and we post some add on campus. After class gets back on, I'm sure there will be more than enough people for us to pick from."

"If you say so."

"We will take it" Jodie told the man that was standing a few feet away from them, being completely ignored by the two woman until the moment.

* * *

I hope you liked it.

Please Review.


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